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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/ICIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 

1980 


4 


Technical  Notes  /  Notes  techniques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Physical 
features  of  this  copy  which  may  alter  any  of  the 
images  in  the  reproduction  are  checked  below. 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couvertures  de  couleur 


L'institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  iui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Certains 
d6fauts  susceptibles  de  nuire  d  la  quality  de  la 
reproduction  sont  notAs  ci-dessous. 


D 


Coloured  pages/ 
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D 
D 


Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  g6ographiques  en  couleur 


Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  ddcolordes,  tachetdes  ou  piqu^es 


D 

D 


Coloured  plates/ 
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Show  through/ 
Transparence 


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Tight  binding  (may  cause  shadows  or 
distortion  along  interior  margin)/ 
Reliure  serrd  (peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou 
de  la  distortion  le  long  de  la  marge 
intdrieure) 


D 


Pages  damaged/ 
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Bound  with  other  material/ 
Reli6  avec  d'autres  documents 


D 
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Pagination  incorrect/ 
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Pages  missing/ 
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D 


Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


D 


Maps  missing/ 

Des  cartes  gdographiques  manquent 


D 
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Plates  missing/ 

Des  planches  manquent 


Additional  comments/ 
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The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
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filming  contract  specifications. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche  shall 
contain  the  symbol  —»- (meaning  CONTINUED"), 
or  the  symbol  y  (meaning  "END"),  whichever 
applies. 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  ie 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet6  de  I'exempiaire  f  ilm6,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparattra  sur  la  der- 
nidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  Ie  cas: 
Ie  symbols  ~»>  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  Ie  symbols 
V  signifie  "FIN". 


The  original  copy  was  borrowed  from,  and 
filmed  with,  the  kind  consent  of  the  following 
institution: 

National  Library  of  Canada 


L'exemplaire  film6  fut  reproduit  grflce  d  la 
g6n6rosit6  de  l'6tablissement  prdteur 
suivant  : 

Bibliothdque  nationale  du  Canada 


IVIaps  or  plates  too  large  to  be  entirely  included 
in  one  exposure  are  filmed  beginning  in  the 
upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to  right  and  top  to 
bottom,  as  many  frames  as  required.  The 
following  diagrams  illustrate  the  method: 


Les  cartes  ou  les  planches  trop  grandes  pour  Atre 
reproduites  en  un  seul  cliche  sont  filmdes  d 
partir  de  I'angle  supdrieure  gauche,  de  gauche  it 
droite  et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  Ie  nombre 
d'images  n6cessaire.  Le  diagramme  suivant 
illustre  la  m6thode  : 


1  2  3 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

QUESTIONS    OF    THE   DAY. 


(The  numbers  omitted  represent  Monographs  no  longer  in  print.) 

3 — Our  Merchant  Marine.     By  David  A.  Wells.    Octavo,  cloth  i  oo 

5  &  6— The  American  Citizen's  Manual.  Edited  by  Worthington 
C.  Ford.  Part  I. — Governments  (National,  State,  and  Local),  the 
Electorate,  and  the  Civil  Service.  Part  II. — The  Functions  of  Gov- 
ernment.    Two  vols,  in  one.     Cloth       .         .         .         .         .     I  25 

9 — The  Destructive  Influence  of  the  Tariff  upon  Manufacture  and 
Commerce,  and  the   Figures  and   Facts  Relating  Thereto. 

By  J,  ScHOENHOF,     Octavo,  cloth,  75  cents  ;  paper        .         .         40 

10— Of  Work  and   Wealth.     By  R.  R.  Bowker.     Octavo,  cloth,     75 

13 — Public  Relief  and  Private  Charity.     By  Josephine  Shaw  Lowell. 
Octavo,  cloth,  75  cents  ;  paper 40 

14 — "  The  Jukes."     A  Study  in  Crime,  Pauperism,  Disease,  and  Heredity. 
By  R.  L.  Dugdale.     Octavo,  cloth I  00 

16 — The  True  Issue.     By  E.  J.  Donnell.    Octavo,  paper  .        .        25 

20— The    Progress    of  the   Working   Classes   in   the   Last    Half 
Century.     By  Roirr.  Giffen.     Octavo,  paper      ...         25 

23 — Social  Economy.     By  J.  E.  Thorold  Rogers,     Octavo  .         .         75 

24— The  History  of  the  Surplus  Revenue  of  1837.     ^y  Edward  G. 
Bourne.     Octavo,  cloth i  25 

25 — The    American    Caucus    System.      By    George    W.    Lawton. 
Octavo,  cloth,  i.oo  ;  paper     .......         50 

26 — The  Science  of  Business.    By  R.  H.  Smith.    Octavo,  cloth  .     i  25 

28 — The   Postulates  of  English   Political  Economy.    By  Walter 
Bagehot.     Octavo,  cloth       .        .        .        .        .        .         .     i  00 

30 — The  Industrial  Situation.     By  J.  Schoenhof.    Octavo,  cloth,  i  00 

35— Unwise  Laws.     By  Lewis  H.  Blair.     Octavo,  cloth     .         ,     i  00 

36 — Railway  Practice.     By  E.  Porter  Alexander.     Octavo,  cloth,  75 

37 — American   State   Constitutions :    A   Study  of  their  Growth.     By 
Henry  Hitchcock,  LL-D.     Octavo,  cloth  ....        75 

38 — The   Inter-State   Commerce  Act :  An  Analysis  of  its  Provisions. 
By  John  R.  Dos  Passos.     Octavo,  cloth       .         .         .         .     I  25 

39 — Federal  Taxation  and  State  Expenses ;  or.    An   Analysis  of  a 
County  Tax-List.     By  W.  H.  Jones,     Octavo,  cloth     .         .     i  00 


T^^-'   "^ 


r 


QUESTIONS  OF   THE   DAY. 


40 — The  Margin  of  Profits.  By  Edward  Atkinson.  Together  with 
the  Reply  of  E.  M.  Chamuerlain,  Representing  the  Labor  Union, 
and  Mr.  Atkinson's  Rejoinder.     Cloth,  75  cents  ;  paper     ,         .     40 

42 — Bodyke  :  A  Chapter  in  the  History  of  Irish  Landlordism.  By 
Henry  Norman.     Octavo,  cloth,  illustrated         •        •         •        75 

43 — Slav  or  Saxon  :  A  Study  of  the  Growth  and  Tendencies  of  Russian 
Civilization.     By  Wm.  D.  Foulke,  A.M.     Octavo,  cloth        .     I  00 

44 — The  Present  Condition  of  Economic  Science,  and  the  Demand 
for  a  Radical  Change  in  its  Methods  and  Aims.  By  Edward 
C.  LuNT.     Octavo,  cloth 75 

46 — Property  in  Land.     By  Henry  Winn.     Octavo,  paper        .        25 

47— The  Tariff  History  of  the  United  States.  By  F.  \7  Taussig. 
Octavo,  cloth .         .         .        .         .        .        .         .         .         .     I  ::5 

48 — The  President's  Message,  1887.  With  annotations  by  R.  R. 
BowKER.     Octavo,  paper       .         .         .         ,         ...         25 

49— Essays  on  Practical  Politics.  By  Theodore  Roosevelt. 
Octavo,  cloth .         .         .         75 

50 — Friendly  Letters  to  American  Farmers  and  Others.     By  J.  S. 

Moore.     Octavo,  paper  .......        .25 

52 — Tariff  Chats.     By  Henry  J.  Phii.pott.     Octavo,  paper         .        25 

S3 — The  Tariff  and  its  Evils  ;  or,  Protection  which  does  riot  Protect. 
By  John  H.  Allen.     Octavo,  cloth       .         .         .        .        .     i  00 

54 — Relation  6f  the  Tariff  to  Wages.    By  David  A.  Wells.     Octavo, 

paper      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         20 

55— True   or  False    Finance.     The  Issue  of  1888.     By  a   Tax-Payer. 

Octavo,  paper    ..........     25 

56 — Outlines  of  a  New  Science.    By  E.  J.  Donnell.     Octavo,  cloth, 

I  00 
57 — The  Plantation  Negro  as  a  Freeman.     By  Philip  A.   Bruce. 

Octavo,  cloth  .  .  .  .  .  ,  .  .  '  .  I  25 
58 — Politics  as  a  Duty  and  as  a  Career.    By  Moorfield  Story. 

Octavo,  paper        .........         25 

59 — Monopolies  and  the  People.    By  Chas.  W.  Baker.    Octavo,  cloth. 

I  25 
60 — The    Public    Regulation    of   Railv^ays.     By   W.    D.    Dabnev, 

Octavo   .        .        .         .        .      •  .        .        .        ...     I  25 

6l— Railway  Secrecy  and  Trusts  ;  Its  Relation  to  Inter-State  Legisla- 
tion.    By  John  M.  Bonham.     Octavo  .         .         .    ,     .         .     1  00 


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CANADIAN   INDEPENDENCE 


Annexation  and 


British  Imperial  Federation 


BY 


JAMES  DOUGLAS 


G 

P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

27 

NEW   YORK- 
West  Twenty-third  Street 

LONDON 
24  Bedford  Street, 

Strand 

oTbc  liniclurbotl 

.ct  ^ttss 

I8q4 

COPYRIGHT,   1894 

BV  • 

JAMES   DOUGLAS 

Entered  at  Stationers'  Hnll^  London 

By  G.  p.  Putnam's  Sons 


Electrotyped,  Printed  and  Bound  by 

Ube  ftnicherbocher  preee,  Dew  ]|?orfi 
G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 


PREFACE. 


The  following  essay  is  the  amplification 
of  an  essay  written  for  Canadian  readers 
by  a  Canadian  long  resident  in  the  United 
States. 

Annexation  implies  a  transaction  to 
which  the  two  sections  concerned  must  be 
parties,  and  therefore  is  of  importance,  if 
not  equally  momentous,  to  both.  To 
Americans  the  annexation,  not  alone  of 
Canada,  but  of  any  further  territory  and 
its  inhabitants,  should  be  considered  in  the 
light  of  the  perilous  growth  of  sectionalism 
at  home. 

The  problem  of  reconciling  local  inter- 
ests and  prejudices  with  the  national  well- 
being  and  will,  is  presenting  itself  obsti- 
nately for  solution  wherever  representative 
government  is  on  its  trial,  whether  under  its 
most  restricted  form  or  its  most  democratic 


111 


IV 


Preface. 


development.  By  the  Austrian  Empire 
tlie  German,  Slavonic,  and  Magyar  ele- 
ments have  to  be  conciliated.  In  Ger- 
many the  Polish  provinces,  with  their  ra- 
cial and  religious  divergences  from  the 
Teutonic  mass  of  the  people,  have  to  be 
propitiated.  In  Great  Britain  the  Irish 
question  is  the  supreme  puzzle  to  each  suc- 
ceeding administration,  and  keeps  the  legis- 
lative halls,  if  not  the  country,  in  a  state 
bordering  on  revolution;  while  in  the 
United  States  one  must  be  blind  not  to 
recognize  the  existence  of  sectionalism,  and 
as  perversely  obtuse  to  the  threatening 
danger  as  men  wert  oefore  the  war,  not  to 
be  alarmed  at  the  consequences  of  its 
growth.  Why,  therefore,  add  another 
story  to  the  political  structure  ?  It  is  pos- 
sible to  make  a  constitutional  edifice  top- 
heavy,  and  to  crush  the  strongest  founda- 
tion by  piling  on  it  more  than  the  builders 
designed  it  to  bear. 

That  the  freest  possible  commercial  in- 
tercourse and  utmost  political  and  social 
harmony  should  exist  between  the  adjacent 
countries  allied  in  so  many  ways,  no  one 


Preface,  v 

can  (question  ;  but  conunercial  engagements 
can  be  easily  modified,  close  political  ties 
are  generally  broken  only  amid  rack  and 
ruin.  The  customs  tariffs  now  under  dis- 
cussion in  this  country  and  in  Canada  in- 
dicate an  approach  towards  friendlier  and 
more  liberal  international  intercourse.  The 
motion  recently  made  in  Congress  in  favor 
of  international  co-operation  in  opening  up 
navigation  between  the  great  lakes  and 
tidal  waters  points  hopefully  in  the  same 
direction. 

Only  the  veriest  optimist  will  assert  that 
the  complicated  problems  involved  in  rep- 
resentative government  have  been  solved 
by  any  one  of  the  self-governing  communi- 
ties of  the  world.  If  so,  success  will  soon- 
est be  attained  if  the  grand  experiment  be 
tried  by  many  separate  nations  (provided 
each  be  large  enough  to  make  its  results 
conclusive),  rather  than  by  huge  aggrega- 
tions of  people,  unwieldy  by  their  num- 
bers, and  heterogeneous  in  their  interests 
and  habits. 

It  is  significant  that  the  present  Prime 
Minister  of  England,  chosen  by  the  Lib- 


vi 


Preface. 


eral  j)arty,  should  be  a  Peei',  a  Radical,  and 
a  stauncli  Imperial  Federalist,  at  one  time 
President  of  the  Imperial  Federation 
League,  and  that  Loi'd  Rosebery  supports 
Irish  Home  Rule,  not  as  a  piece  of  excep- 
tional legislature,  but  as  the  iii'st  step  tow- 
ards the  creation  of  a  group  of  separate 
English-speaking  states  in  both  hemi- 
spheres, controlling  without  interference 
their  own  domestic  affairs,  but  bound  to- 
gether by  common  constitutional  ties  and 
common  interests,  each  working  out  its  own 
individual  destiny,  while  contributing  to 
the  strength,  the  influence,  and  the  pros- 
perity of  the  whole. 

J.  D. 
New  York,  April  25,  1894. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — The  Imminence  of  Political  Change 

IN  Canada i 

II. — Imperial  Federation  Possible  only 
AS  THE  Consequence  of  Indepen- 
dence     .        .        .        .        .        .II 

III. — Annexation  as  an  Alternative  to 

Independence         .        .        .        .34 

IV. — Canada's  Slow  Progress  (Compared 
with  that  of  australia  and  the 
United  States)  Due  to  Physical 

Conditions 46 

V. — If  the  "National  "  or  Protection 

Policy  has  Failed   to   Attract 

Population     to    Canada,     will 

Annexation  do  so  ?        .         .         .55 

VI. — Probable  Effect  of  Annexation  on 

Canadian  Industries  and  Wages.     65 
VII. — Annexation  from  the  Standpoint 

of  Comparative  Politics       .         .     83 
VIII. — Annexation   from    American    and 

Canadian  Points  of  View     .        .     97 

Index iii 

vii 


Canadian  Independence. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE    IMMINENCE   OF  POLITICAL  CHANGE    IN 

CANADA. 

The  political  future  of  Canada  should 
and  does  occupy  a  foremost  place  in  the 
thoughts  of  its  people,  and  is  a  subject 
of  no  inconsiderable  importance  to  her 
neighbor.  It  may  be  true  that  at  present 
there  is  no  widespread  discontent  with  its 
existing  constitution  and  relations,  but 
some  change  in  the  alliance  between 
Canada  and  the  mother-country  must, 
sooner  or  later,  take  place,  as  inevitably 
the  relations  between  parent  and  child 
alter  when  childhood  passes  into  boyhood 
and  boyhood  merges  into  manhood. 


Canadian  Independence, 


i        ! 


The  parental-control  stage  of  Canadian 
history  ended  in  1842.  Since  then  Canada 
has  been  out  of  leading-strings,  managing 
her  own  internal  affairs,  and  trying  to  work 
out  a  system  of  government,  based  on  rep- 
resentative principles,  which  would  har- 
monize discordant  elements  at  the  centre, 
and  permit  of  the  absorption  and  develop- 
ment of  territory  at  tlie  periphery  of  her 
possible  domain.  The  mother-country  has 
held  over  her  the  aegis  of  her  protection, 
which,  happily,  has  never  had  to  ward  off 
a  dart  actually  thrown.  She  has  been 
ready  to  advise  her  offspring,  to  lend  her 
money,  and  in  every  way  assist  her  during 
this  period  of  national  adolescence.  Now 
that  this  period  has  passed,  it  will  be  as 
ignominious  to  remain  dependent  and  accept 
support  from  the  parent  state,  as  it  is  on 
the  part  of  a  full-gr'^wn  man  to  look  to  his 
sire,  not  only  I'or  counsel,  but  for  assistance. 

A  man  is  never  too  old  to  ask  and  take 
advice  without  derogation  to  his  dignity, 
but  he  cannot  accept  alms  without  loss  of 
self-esteem.  He  may  enter  a  partnership 
penniless  and  yet  contribute  in  energy  and 


Imtnincjicc  of  Political  CJia^igc,         3 

industry  more  in  value  than  liis  partner's 
wealth.  Into  some  such  partnersliip  the 
children  of  the  great  British  famil)  might 
be  incorporated.  Some  such  compact  for 
mutual  profit  and  protection  there  may 
arise  a  statesman  endowed  with  the  wisdom 
to  frame  and  the  sagacity  and  tact  to 
manage.  As  yet,  however,  and  though 
every  thoughtful  Englishman  at  home  and 
in  the  colonies  know^s  that  to  be  the  most 
momentous  if  not  the  most  urgent  question 
of  the  day,  no  feasible  plan  of  Imperial 
Federation  has  been  formulated.  Mean- 
while the  impending  crisis,  which  wdll  be 
created  out  of  some  unforeseen  complica- 
tion, approaches. 

In  the  case  of  the  colonies  in  the  South- 
ern Hemisphere  no  outward  pressure  or 
internal  convulsion  threatens  to  create  ne- 
cessity for  sudden  decision  and  prompt 
action.  As  less  and  less  territory  remains 
to  be  occupied  or  seized  in  the  Archipelago 
of  the  South  Pacific  by  England  or  her 
rivals,  the  most  pregnant  cause  for  irritation 
there  is  disappearing.  Australia's  debt  is 
by  far  the  largest  per  capita  of  any  com- 


4  Canadian  Indcpendciice, 

miiuity  ia  the  world.  It  is  !i^230.78  per 
head,  while  the  national  debt  per  head  of 
this  country  is  only  $14.24.  As  this 
enormous  sura  is  (bn  in  greatest  part  to 
England,  it  serves  as  a  balance-wheel  to 
recfulate  the  relations  of  the  borrower  and 
the  lender,  and  tends  to  repress  hasty 
action  by  the  one  or  the  other. 

In  South  Africa  a  collision  between  the 
British  and  the  Dutch  or  Poi'tuguese  com- 
munities might  hasten  disruption  of  exist- 
ing relations,  but  it  would  probably  have 
the  opposite  result,  for  the  colonies  acting  in 
unison  would  be  stronger  than  their  antago- 
nists; and  political  considerations  would 
probably  not  restrain  the  parent  state  from 
tendering  assistance  should  such  a  compli- 
cation arise. 

But  on  this  continent  a  grave  difference 
of  policy  between  Canada  and  its  neighbor 
may  arise  at  any  moment,  on  an  economical 
question  affecting,  for  instance,  interna- 
tional commerce  by  land  or  water.  Such  a 
dispute  might  sj)eedily  lead  to  conse- 
quences Avhicli  would  pi'oduce  distress  on 
one  side  of  the  line  and  irritation  on  the 


Imminence  of  Political  CJuinge.         5 

other,  and  endauger  good-fellowship  and 
neiiifhborliness.  It  is  certain  that  the 
offence  would  have  to  be  very  clearly 
charo^eable  to  the  United  States  and  would 
have  to  assume  tlie  gravity  of  an  interna- 
tional affi'ont,  before  England  would  em- 
broil herself  in  a  qu-^rrel  on  account  of 
Canada.  Jn  the  event  of  reluctance  on  the 
part  of  England  to  champion  Canada's 
cause,  general  discontent  would  ensue  with 
the  existing  anomalous  relations,  which  very 
reasonably  deny  Canada  control  of  foreign 
affairs,  though  they  expose  her  to  all  the 
consequences  of  a  quarrel  for  which  she 
may  not  be  even  remotely  responsible. 

Nevertheless  every  Canadian  must  in 
fairness  admit  that  as  long  as  Canada  de- 
pends on  England  for  defence  against 
foreign  foes,  and  neither  supports  an  army 
and  navy  of  her  own,  nor  contributes  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  Imperial  forces, 
she  should  be  denied  the  power  of  com- 
promising the  parent  state  by  engaging  in 
independent  foreign  negotiations. 

Thus,  while  we  can  easily  conceive  of 
international  complications  arising   which 


Canadian  Independence. 


would  create  a  crisis,  Canada  is  at  the 
same  time  certainly  suffering  from  internal 
morbid  conditions  of  the  body  politic, 
wliicli  will  call,  ere  long,  for  the  applica- 
tion of  some  remedy. 

Nowhere  in  the  British  Empire  are  the 
external  and  internal  incentives  to  change 
as  imminent  and  threatening  as  here,  and 
nowhere  are  the  alternative  policies  which 
offer  themselves  more  perplexing.  No 
plan  yet  proposed  meets  with  even  wide 
approval,  for  none  is  free  from  grave 
objections. 

The/ar  niente  policy  would  be  the  best 
if  all  Canada's  internal  forces  should 
slumber ;  and  all  external  foes,  should  she 
have  any,  would  remain  dormant.  But,  if 
she  indulges  in  the  hallucination  that 
while  the  world  revolves  she  can  stand 
still,  she  will  certainly  find  herself  in  the 
same  sorry  plight  as  the  "  foolish  virgins," 
with  no  oil,  no  light,  and  no  home.  As  a 
people  Canadians  should  act  with  the  same 
prudence  and  foresight  that  they  bring  to 
bear  on  their  private  affairs,  make  plans  for 
their  future  guidance,  whether  Providence 


Imminence  of  Political  Change.        7 

permits  tbem  to  carry  them  out  or  not, 
and  face  tlie  fiitare  manfully,  determined 
that  they  will  steer  a  straight  course 
towards  a  definite  goal,  and  try  and  shape 
their  destiny  in  imitation  of  some  worthy 

model. 

Fortunately  or  uufortunately,  circum- 
stances do  not  point  to  any  conspicuous 
goal  as  that  towards  which  Canada  should 

steer. 

If  we  compare  Canada's  position  with 
that  occupied  by  the  old  colonies,  and  the 
prevalent  sentiment  of  the  Dominion  with 
that  which  the  colonists  entertained  towards 
the  mother-country,  we  can  conceive  how 
much  easier  it  was  for  them,  once  a  break 
of  existing;  relations  occurred,  to  decide 
upon  a  course  of  action  than  it  is  for 
Canada.  The  Puritan  immigrants  were 
Englishmen,  it  is  true,  but  they  left  their 
homes  because  their  opinions  and  practices 
were  at  variance  with  those  of  the  govern- 
ment and  of  the  majority  of  their  fellow- 
countrymen;  and  ever  and  anon,  during 
the  century  and  a  half  which  intervened 
between  the  date  of  their  landing  on  Ply- 


8 


Canadian  Indepcndaicc. 


I    I 


H 


mouth  Rock  and  the  outbreak  of  hostilities, 
there  were  mutteriugs  of  the  hurricane 
which  was  brewing. 

At  one  time  cohmists  resented  the  inter- 
ference of  Parliament  because  they  be- 
longed to  a  Crown  colony.  At  another 
time  they  protested  against  the  dictation 
of  the  Crown,  because  it  trenched  upon 
their  liberties  as  Englishmen.  One  cannot 
read  the  story  of  the  gathering  of  the 
storm  without  feelinsj  that  thunder  and 
lightning  were  stored  in  that  sultry  atmos- 
phere, and  a  tempest  was  liable  at  any 
moment  to  burst.  Not  only  Samuel 
Adams,  but  many  another  colonist,  had 
made  up  his  mind  before  the  crisis  arose 
that  a  collision  must  occur  and  separation 
result.  The  opinions  of  some  at  least  of 
the  influential  colonists  were  but  the  fruit 
of  their  wishes,  and  their  wishes  were  the 
flames  which  kindled  the  I'evolution. 

The  case  is  different  with  Canada.  The 
sentiment  of  the  great  bulk  of  the  people 
is  distinctly  and  strongly  English.  The 
large  majority  which  the  Conservative 
party  commands  is  due  primarily  to  a  sus- 


Im))ii}icncc  of  Political  Chancre. 


piciou  tliJit,  under  tlie  guise  of  commercial 
union  with  the  United  States,  advocated 
by  the  Liberal  party,  are  hidden  designs 
for  political  union  ;  and  from  this,  which 
means  a  severance  of  those  strong,  sympa- 
thetic ties  which  bind  English  Canadians 
to  the  old  country,  the  hearts  of  the 
majority  of  Canadians  I'evolt.  So  long  as 
England  and.  Home  are  synonymous  terms 
in  Canadian  speech,  the  sentimental  bond 
attaching  the  child  to  the  parent  will  be 
too  strong  to  yield  to  merely  economical 
considerations.  Canadians  have  not  and 
never  have  had  a  serious  grievance  against 
the  parent  country,  for  the  disaffection  of 
1837  was  far  from  being  shared  by  the 
people  at  large,  and  it  left  hardly  a  trace 
of  bitterness  towards  the  mother-land.  The 
legislative  independence,  which  rewarded 
not  only  the  rebels,  but  their  foes,  long 
ago  obliterated  any  rancor  excited  by  the 
event. 

If,  as  one  result  of  the  almost  absolute 
independence  which  ensued,  the  racial 
alienation  between  the  Canadian  French 
and  the  Canadian  English  is  growing  into 


lO 


Canadian  Independence. 


racial  auti|)atliy,  this  antagonism  is  trace- 
able  to  internal  causes,  and  does  not 
oi'iginate  in  animosity  towards  England. 
Thii^,  though  there  may  be  urgent  reasons 
for  changing  Canada's  constitution  and 
modifying  the  terms  of  her  alliance  to  the 
Empire,  these  reasons  do  not  spring  from 
discontent  with  the  policy  and  action  of 
the  parent  state,  and  consequently  they  do 
not,  as  in  the  case  of  the  revolting  colonists 
of  last  century,  indicate  the  direction  in 
which  the  change  should  be  made. 


!lii   ! 


I     'IMi 


CIIAPTKU  ir. 

IMPERIAL  FEDEKATIOX   I'OSSlliLE  ONLY  AS  THE 
CONSEQUENCE    OF    INDEPENDENCE. 

In  reality  there  are  but  two  alternatives 
open,  either  Annexation  or  Independence, 
more  or  less   complete.     A  third   course, 
that  of  Imperial  Federation,  if  it  be  ef- 
fected, is  more  likely  to  follow  as  a  conse- 
quence  of  a  scheme  of  independence  than 
to  precede  it ;  for  any  feasible  plan  of  Im- 
perial Federation  necessarily  involves  vir- 
tual independence  of  the  federated  States. 
Were   the  colonies  still  colonies,  subject, 
even  nominally,  to  interference  by  the  cen- 
tral   state,   arguments    coming   from    her 
would  savor  of  commands,  and  suggestions 
of  coercion.     No  people  are  so  sensitive  to 
slights  as  little  people,  and  weak  persons 
are  most  prone  to  stand  on  their  dignity, 
as  they  have  generally  little  else  to  stand 
upon. 


II 


12 


Canadian  Independence, 


The  tliscussiou  of  a  scheme  of  British 
Imperial  Federation,  with  a  view  to  its 
actual  realization,  would  lead  to  practical 
results,  only  if  carried  on  between  per- 
fectly independent  autonomous  powers. 
The  powers  may  differ  widely  in  strength 
and  resources,  and  thus  differing,  modify 
their  claims  in  conformity  with  t)  eir  real 
imjiortance,  hut  it  almost  follows  without 
argument  tliat  it  would  be  impossible  to 
reconcile  the  divergent  interests  of  the 
many  branches  of  the  British  family,  did 
not  each  enter  the  family  council  with  the 
fullest  rights  of  independent  action. 

Strong  as  may  be  its  attachment  to  the 
parent  state,  every  community  would  I'esent 
the  faintest  suspicion  of  pressure,  and  it  is 
almost  certain  that  were  absolute  inde- 
pendence of  all  the  contracting  parties  not 
a  precedent,  pressure  v:ould  almost  inevita- 
bly follow  reluctance  on  the  part  of  any 
member  of  the  proposed  league  to  follow 
the  policy  which  the  majority  might  agree 
to.  Consent  wrung  by  pressure  never 
becomes  cordial  acquiescence.  Canada's 
Maritime   Provinces,    lightly   or   wrongly, 


I 

■i 

% 


Imperial  Federation. 


13 


believed  themselves  cajoled,  if  not  coerced, 
into  the  confederation,  and  thev  have  never 
entirely  rid  themselves  of  a  certain  sense 
of  injury. 

How  independence  is  to  be  worked  out, 
circumstances  will  probably  indicate.  It 
must  not  be  effected  by  violent  means. 
The  genius  of  the  English  race  favors  the 
introduction  of  political  and  social  changes, 
so  great  as  to  be  revolutionary  in  their 
effects,  by  slow,  constitutional  means.  But 
the  changes  must  be  seen  and  recognized 
to  be  necessary  and  salutary,  and  means 
must  be  put  in  motion  to  bring  them  about. 
Let  independence  become  a  distinct  issue, 
not  in  party  politics,  but  in  the  national 
aspirations  and  aims  of  all  the  great  groups 
of  the  British  family,  and  Independence 
will  come  about  without  clash  of  arms  or 
severance  of  sympathetic  ties. 

Participation  by  right  and  not  merely  by 
courtesy,  over  its  foreign,  as  well  as  its  do- 
mestic affairs,  must  be  exercised  by  every 
self-governing  community.  Dependence  on 
themselves,  and  on  their  o\s\\  diplomatic 
skill,  as  well  as,  when  necessary,  on  their 


H 


Canadia u  Independence. 


own  strength,  can  alone  build  up  a  vigorous, 
self-reliant,  national  character  in  any  peo- 
ple ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  reliance  on  a 
foreign  power,  even  though  it  be  a  parent 
state,  enfeebles  and  degrades. 

Great  Britain  has  recognized  in  fact  the 
rights  of  her  colonies  to  participate  in  all 
deliberations  with  foreign  powers,  when 
their  interests  are  affected  ;  but,  as  in  the 
recent  Behring  Sea  deliberations,  the  for- 
eign power  is  naturally  irritated,  and  the 
negotiations  are  embarrassed,  by  the  fact 
that  Canada  could  not  make  her  side  known 
by  direct  utterances  of  her  own  diplomatic 
agents,  and  that  Great  Britain  had  more 
than  once  to  shift  her  position  in  deference 
to  the  wishes,  secretly  expressed,  of  her 
dependency.  How  far  this  was  really  the 
case  or  not,  the  United  States  public  can- 
not, of  course,  know,  but  the  suspicion  of 
its  being  true  did  not  raise  Canada  in  the 
estimation  of  her  neighbor,  nor  smooth  the 
path  of  British  diplomacy. 

The  Constitution  of  an  Imperial  Fed- 
eration will  have  to  be  drawn  on  lines  not 
heretofore  laid  down  for  any  ship  of  state. 


Imperial  Fcdo'ation. 


15 


It  is  inconceivable,  for  instance,  that  such 
widely  separated  members  of  tlie  British 
family  as  the  Canadian,  the  Australian,  the 
South  African,  and  the  West  Indian  groups, 
would  yield  so  much  of  their  sovereign 
rights  to  any  Federal  Government,  as  the 
States  of  the  Union  yield  to  tLe  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  which  is  not 
only  theoretically,  but  actually  and  locally, 
an  embodiment  of  themselves,  nor  would 
they  delegate  to  their  representatives  to 
the  Federal  Parliament,  sitting  and  delib- 
erating at  a  distance  from  home  and  under 
the  influence  of  the  central  powers,  with  its 
magical  over-weening  spell,  derived  from 
the  prestige  of  age  and  parentage,  the  same 
control  as  the  people  of  the  Republic  en- 
trust to  their  representatives  in  Congi'ess. 

The  impossibility  of  applying  any  system 
similar  to  the  American  Constitution,  is 
indicated  by  the  sense  of  incompatibility 
which  influences  the  public  mind  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  when  the 
question  of  annexation  of  any  distant  terri- 
tory is  presented. 

To  do  so  seems  like  makinir  a  breach  of 


i6 


Canadian  Independence . 


continuity  and  liomogeneity,  for  the  feder- 
ated states  are  all  geographically  adjacent 
and  all  more  or  less  peopled  by  men  of  single 
impulses  and  intei'ests.  So  the  tie  which 
can  bind,  without  irritating,  such  scattered 
communities  as  we  have  enumerated,  must 
derive  its  strength  from  unanimity  of 
national  sentiment,  from  reverence  for  a 
common  historical  past,  and  a  determina- 
tion to  maintain  and  live  up  to  the  political 
principles  which  underlie  the  self-govern- 
ment of  all  Anglo-Saxon  communities,  how- 
ever diverse  may  be  the  form  and  fashion 
of  the  institutions  througli  which  they  see 
fit  to  apply  these  principles.  A  common 
selfish  interest  may  be  the  impelling  motive, 
but  it  will  really  in  the  long  run  be  a 
more  feeble  cohesive  infiuence  than  the 
sympathetic. 

If  we  glance  back  to  that  most  instruc- 
tive century  and  a  half,  between  the  land- 
ing of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  we  see  how 
much  more  sensitive  the  colonies  were  to 
parliamentary  than  to  kingly  interference. 
They  were  willing  to  recognize   a  certain 


Imperial  Federation.  \  7 

titular  sovereignty  as  residing  in  the  king, 
but  resented  any  approach  to  parliamentary 
meddling.      Had  their  charters  conferred 
somewhat  more    ample   power,    and  been 
religiously  respected,  and  had  the  crisis  not 
been  precipitated  by    the   gross  stupidity 
and  ignorance  of  English  statesmen,  and  the 
perverse  obstinacy  of  an  English  king,  that 
deeply  implanted  reverence  which  all  Eng- 
lishmen feel  for  the  king  as  the  head  of 
the   state,  and    the   representative  of  the 
people  of  all  classes  and  all  parties,  sup- 
posed to  be  unswayed  by  political  ambi- 
tion,   and   holding    the    balance   between 
opposing  factions,  might  have  been  potent 
enough  to  restrain  the  allegiance   of  the 
colonies    towai-ds    the    parent    state,    till 
broader  views  of  colonial  independence  had 
grown  up,  and  a  less  officious  king  sat  upon 
the  throne. 

Eeasoning  from  the  past,  if  the  so-called 
dependencies  of  Great  Britain  are  to  con- 
tinue  to  be  affiliated  to  the  old  countiy, 
harmony  will  be  maintained  only  if  each 
is  fi-ee  to  shape  its  ow^n  course  in  foreign 
as  well  as  in  domestic  affairs,  except  where 


i8 


Canaciia7t  Independence, 


the  wider  interests  of  tbe  Avliole  are  con- 
cerned. Each  must  in  fact  be  a  perfectly 
independent  power,  acting  in  concert, 
where  the  interests  of  trade  and  commerce 
and  the  momentous  question  of  mutual  de- 
fence demand,  but  bound  to  the  mother- 
country  and  the  other  members  of  the 
family  politic,  not  so  much  by  rigid  con- 
stitutional fetters  as  by  the  sympathetic 
ties  of  common  blood,  common  aims,  pride 
in  a  glorious  past,  and  aspirations  towards 
a  still  more  glorious  future. 

But  such  a  co-fraternity  can  be  better 
effected  and  the  institutions  by  which  it  is 
to  be  made  operative  and  maintained  can 
be  better  conceived  and  created,  once  the 
idea  of  dependence  has  been  banished  from 
the  thoughts  of  Englishmen  of  both  the 
Greater  and  the  Lesser  Britain,  and  the 
sense  of  m^e^'-dependence  in  its  highest 
meaning  has  permeated  the  conceptions  of 
all  the  free  independent  people  of  English 
nationality.  They  may  be  widely  sepa- 
rated geographically,  and  the  forms  of 
government  may  differ  widely  in  details, 
but  all  must  embody,  and  all  must  apply 


Imperial  Fcderatio7i. 


19 


to  their  diversified  conditions  of  industrial 
and  social  life,  the  same  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  liberty  and  self-government  which 
Englishmen  brought  over  to  Jamestown 
and  to  Plymouth,  which  Englishmen  have 
planted  and  Frenchmen  have  adopted  in 
Canada,  and  which  even  in  the  tropics 
seem  to  withstand  the  enervating  influence 
of  climate. 

If  Imperial  Federation  of  Britain  and 
her  colonies  is  to  be  effected,  sentiment 
even  more  than  self-interest  must  be  the 
federating  force.  Sentiment  will  help  to 
solve  many  a  difficulty,  and  primarily  that 
question  as  to  the  personality  and  function 
of  the  head  of  the  Federation.  Although 
no  member  of  the  Federation  would  create 
a  king  to  preside  over  her  local  government, 
a  constitutional  monarch  might  appropri- 
ately be  the  head  of  the  Federation.  He 
would  I'epresent  in  his  person  the  traditions 
of  the  past,  and  embody  the  historical  con- 
tinuity of  the  race.  Powerless  to  intei-fere 
arbitrarily,  but  not,  therefore,  bereft  of 
influence,  the  creature  of  his  subjects,  though 
nominally  the  controller  of  their  fate^  his 


20 


Canadian  Independence, 


right  to  avert  injustice  and  enforce  fair 
play,  even  if  never  exercis(;d,  would  exert 
a  restraining  power.  Such  a  nominal  bead, 
called  by  whatever  name  the  llepublican 
principles  of  the  Federation  would  allow  to 
be  applied,  would  be  a  less  dangerous  and 
more  picturesque  chief  than  an  elected 
president. 

A  far  more  difficult  problem  would  be  to 
balance  the  power  of  the  executive,  legis- 
lative, and  Judicial  branches ;  to  define  the 
functions  of  the  elective  representatives  of 
the  Federal  Council ;  to  fairly  apportion 
representation  to  it ;  to  decide  whether  it 
should  be  a  mere  board  of  arbitration  for 
the  settlement  of  inter-stj^^e  disputes  and 
questions  affecting  trade  and  commerce,  or 
whether  it  should  be  endowed  with  the 
higher  functions  of  Parliament,  and  empow- 
ered to  commit  the  Federation  to  defensive 
and  offensive  war.  All  these  and  a  hundred 
other  decisions  could  only  be  made  by 
states  of  complete  independent  integrity, 
free  from  the  dictation  or  the  overt  influence 
of  a  paramount  power. 

In  any  case,  the  more  restricted  the  sphere 


Impcria  I  Fed  era  Hon. 


21 


of  Federal  interference,  and  consequently 
the  more  complete  the  right  of  independent 
action  by  each  state  within  its  own  domain, 
the  less  Jealousy  md  friction  there  would 
be.  An  experiment  (for  experiment  it 
necessarily  will  be)  at  Federation  should 
aim  at  accomplishing  as  much  as  possible 
with  the  simjilest  possible  machinery,  leav- 
ing to  the  future  the  development  of  a  more 
intricate  and  comprehensive  system,  if  ex- 
perience should  call  for  it. 

The  most  direct  step  ever  taken  towards 
Imperial  Federation  was  when  Lord  Salis- 
bury pi'oposed,  or  rather  suggested,  a  com- 
mercial Zollverein  between  the  mother- 
country^  and  her  friendly  children.  Unfor- 
tunately the  circumstance  which  elicited 
the  suggestion  was  the  adverse  trade  policy 
of  England's  oldest  and  most  refractory 
offspring.  When  the  North  American  colo- 
nies wei'e  dependencies,  one  of  their  griev- 
ances was  the  selfish  trade  and  commercial 
policy  of  the  mother-country.  Since  then 
the  mother-country  has  adopted  the  freest 
trade  policy  ever  pursued  by  a  great  nation, 
but  her  old  dependencies  have  not  unlearned 


22 


Canadian  Independence. 


some  of  the  lessons  she  so  emphatically 
impressed  upon  them.  It  is  not  from  ov^ert 
hostility  but  from  self-interest  that  not  only 
the  great  Republic,  but  most  of  the  British 
colonies,  refuse  to  follow  her  example.  In 
the  case  of  tlie  United  States,  her  fiscal 
system  dictates  that  policy,  but  it  has  cre- 
ated a  trade  rivalry  which  must  necessarily 
become  moi'e  and  more  acute,  thougli  it 
need  not  degenerate  into  unfriendliness. 

Half  a  century  ago,  when  England  saw 
fit  to  adopt  the  principles  of  free-trade, 
there  seemed  to  be  a  leaning:  in  the  same 
direction  on  the  part  of  the  United  States. 
Its  government  was  then  controlled  by  the 
South.  The  South  produced  cotton,  of 
which  England  was  by  far  the  largest  pur- 
chaser. In  return  for  cotton,  England 
offered  the  South  every  class  of  manufac- 
tures at  a  less  cost  than  they  could  be  bought 
at  home.  But  the  War  of  Secession  ban- 
ished all  thought  of  any  nearer  approach 
to  a  common  trade  policy.  A  high  tariff 
was  im[)eratively  forced  on  the  country. 
It  was  imposed  for  purposes  of  revenue, 
but  it   fostered   manufactui-es   and   made 


i 


I))ipcrial  Fcdc7'ation. 


23 


many  rich.  Wlieu  the  amount  yielded  by 
customs  grew  to  be  in  excess  of  the  require- 
ments of  government,  the  Democratic  party 
urged  reform  of  the  tariff,  and  curtaibnent 
of  duties.  The  Mills  Bill,  framed  with  this 
object,  was  defeated.  The  following  Con- 
gress was  Republican,  and  passed  the  Mc- 
Kinley  Tariff  Bill,  avowedly  as  a  measure 
of  protection,  nominally  in  the  interest  of 
the  working  masses,  really  in  the  intei'est 
of  the  accumulating  classes. 

The  New  York  Trihune,  during  the  na- 
tional campaign  which  followed  the  pas- 
sage of  the  bill,  covered  the  first  page  of 
several  issues  of  its  weekly  edition  with 
a  list  of  the  wealthy  men  of  the  country, 
designating  by  an  asterisk  those  who  had 
been  enriched  by  tariff*  legislation.  The 
list  was  long,  but  it  was  very  short  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  millions  who  have 
contributed,  in  higher  cost  of  living,  to  the 
wealth  which  has  made  a  plutocracy  of 
the  few.  It  might  be  supposed,  moi'e  ap- 
propriately, to  be  a  campaign  document  of 
the  anti-tariff  party.  On  the  contrary,  it 
was  a  shrewd  move  to  win  votes,  not  from 


24 


Canadian  Independence, 


the  workinixmen,  but  from  tlie  averajxe 
trader  and  small  manufacturer,  who,  ex- 
cited by  the  wealth  which  had  accrued  to 
80  many,  were  tempted  to  .support  a  system 
which  in  a  few  years  might  elevate  them 
to  the  same  glorious  height,  and  cause  their 
names  to  be  enrolled  in  the  McKinley 
peerage  of  money. 

But  while  parties  have  been  using  the 
tariff  as  a  party  issue,  the  cost  of  govern- 
ment has  been  increasing  so  rapidly  that 
the  whole  proceeds  of  even  the  tariff  for 
protection  are  being  absorbed.  The  pen- 
sion list,  let  who  will  be  responsible  for  its 
length,  must  be  paid.  A  navy  must  be 
built.  The  appropriation  for  harbor  and 
river  improvements  must  grow  greater  and 
greater.  The  cost  of  government,  already 
in  excess  of  that  of  Great  Britain,  goes 
rolling  on,  and  I'enders  it  practically  im- 
possible to  reduce  the  tariff,  unless  resort 
be  had  to  direct  taxation  or  higher  internal 
revenue. 

But  if  a  high  tariff  is  to  be  main- 
tained, foreign  trade  will  be  shut  out, 
and  consequently  commercial   intercourse 


Imperial  Federation. 


25 


will  dwindle  from  sheer  luck  of  excliaiii^e. 
To  avoid  this  inevitable  consequence,  which 
all  but  the  extreniest  protectionists  recog- 
nize and  admit  would  be  a  misfortune,  Mr. 
Blaine  devised  a  scheme  of  reciprocity  by 
which  other  high-tariit'  countries  shouh 
admit  certain  American  products  and 
manufactured  articles  in  return  for  free 
admission  into  the  United  States  of  certain 
of  theii*  commodities,  principally  raw  ma- 
terials. When  the  admission  of  the  foreicrn 
commodity  injures  a  home  industr^y  of  con- 
siderable industrial  or  political  importance, 
the  home  interest  is  recompensed  by  a 
bounty.  Thus  Cuban  and  other  sugars 
enter  duty  free,  and  the  cost  of  sugar  to 
the  American  consumer  seems  to  have  cor- 
respondingly declined.  But  what  the 
sugar  consumer  thinks  he  saves,  because 
he  pays  his  grocer  less,  he  pays  into  the 
Treasury  as  increased  taxation,  to  re- 
imburse the  Louisiana  sugar-plan  t^'  for  the 
protection  of  which  he  has  been  deprived  ! 
The  system  has  not  been  on  trial  long 
enouQ^h  to  be  an  assured  success  or  an 
assured  failure,  but  one  thing  it  has  done  : 


26 


Canadian  Independence, 


while  it  has  led  to  reciprocity  treaties  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  some  high- 
tariff  countries,  whose  exports  are  of  raw 
material,  it  has  induced  other  high-tariff 
countries,  whose  exports  are  only  manu- 
factured goods,  and  whose  trade  with  the 
United  States  was  certainly  hampered  by 
the  McKinley  Bill,  to  combine  among 
themselves  for  mutual  protection  and  effec- 
tive recrimination.  But  England,  con- 
sistent in  her  free-trade  policy,  stands  alone 
and  powerless.  She  even  allows  her  sugar 
dependencies  in  the  West  Indies  to  enter 
the  United  States  protective  league. 
Canada  has  treated  with  her  neighbor 
with  the  same  object  in  view,  but  the 
United  States  must  decline  to  admit 
Canadian  raw  material  free,  unless  Canada 
will,  in  her  tariff  on  manufactured  articles, 
discriminate  in  her  favor,  which  is  the  gist 
of  a  reciprocity  treaty,  and  therefore 
against  Great  Britain. 

If,  after  a  fair  trial,  the  United  States 
finds  or  thinks  it  to  be  to  her  advantage  to 
persist  in  this  dual  policy  of  high  protec- 
tion at  home  and  preferential  discrimina- 


Imperial  Federation, 


27 


tion  in  favor  of  reciprocating  communities 
abroad,  and  other  countries  follow  her 
example,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  Great 
Britain  is  to  defend  herself,  except  by 
adopting  similar  tactics. 

Though  the  drift  of  political  opinion  in 
the  United  States  has  veered  towards  a 
free  international  trade  policy,  the  reverse 
has  been  the  case  in  Europe,  as  evinced  by 
the  new  German-Russian  treaty  and  the 
French  duty  on  wheat.  There,  however, 
economical  conditions  are  complicated  by, 
if  not  subordinate  to,  political  motives, 
which  happily  do  not  influence  us  on  this 
continent. 

It  is  inevitable  that,  be  their  fiscal  policies 
what  they  may,  England  and  the  United 
States  are  certain  to  be  competitors  in  the 
world's  markets  for  the  sale  of  the  great 
staples  of  the  manufacturers'  skill ;  foi*, 
despite  the  great  growth  of  population  in 
the  United  States,  the  growth  of  her  iron 
and  steel  and  of  her  textile-fabric  indus- 
tries is  gradually  outstripping  the  demands 
of  her  home  mai'ket. 
To  divert  the  inevitable  decline  in  prices 


28 


Canadian  Independence. 


I  I 


which  results  from  overstocking  the  home 
market,  every  trade  has  organized  under 
one  form  or  another  a  trust  or  combina- 
tion, whose  efforts  are  directed  to  checking 
unbridled  competition,  and  keeping  within 
the  limits  of  consumption  the  production 
of  protected  articles.  Of  the  trusts,  those 
are  most  easily  managed  and  most  success- 
ful which  manipulate  the  movement  of 
commodities  which  are  the  product  of  a 
limited  region,  such  as  petroleum  and 
anthracite  coal,  or  highly  protected  articles 
like  iron  and  steel. 

But  the  day  inevitably  comes  when  the 
laws  of  trade,  or  the  cupidity  of  the  more 
favored  mines  or  mills,  or  the  necessities 
of  the  financially  embarrassed,  induce  some 
works  of  large  capacity  to  overstep  the 
nrtificial  barrier,  to  produce  in  excess  of  its 
allowance,  and  thus  to  break  faith  Avith  its 
partners,  but  not  to  break  the  law.  Then 
commences  a  competitive  stampede,  in 
which  each  large  corporation  uses  its  plant 
and  resources  to  the  utmost  limit  of  its 
capacity  and  of  its  credit.  This  they  do, 
either  impelled  by  ambition  to  stand  at 


Imperial  Federation.  20 

the  head  of  the  list,  as  the  biggest  producer, 
though  every  inch  of  increase  means  an  ell 
less^  of  profit,  or  from  valid  economical 
motives,  in  the  endeavor  to  reduce  the 
percentage  of  administi'ation  expenses  by 
distributing  them  over  a  larger  output. 

Thus,  once  the  control  of  the  manage- 
ment    of     a    combination    is     weakened, 
competition   again   comes   into   play,   and 
individual  folly,    selfishness,   or  necessity 
brings  about  excessive  production.     That 
excessive   product   must   be   sold   at   any 
price,  and  must  therefore  of  necessity  seek 
a    foreign     market.      The    price    of    the 
foreign  market  soon  comes  to  fix  the  price 
at   home,   and   then   protection   ceases  to 
protect.     This  sequence  of  events  has  al- 
ready follovred  in  the  history  of  some  pro- 
tected industries  in  the  United  States,  and 
if  laws  against  trusts  can  be  enforced  it 
will  be  the  fate  of  others,  unless  admission 
for  protected  articles  be  secured  to  other 
protected  markets,  which  is  the  aim  of  the 
reciprocity     politicians      and    economists. 
The  natural  resources  of  the  Union  are  so 
vast,  and  the  enei-gy  and  ingenuity  of  its 


M 


30 


Canadian  Indcpcndeiicc. 


people  so  uncontrollable  and  keen,  that 
production  will  in  any  case  sooner  or 
later  refuse  to  be  restricted  to  home 
consumption. 

Whether,  therefore,  by  shutting  out 
England's  manufactures  from  her  own 
market  by  a  protective  tariff,  or  from 
other  markets  by  reciprocity  temptations, 
or  whether  by  cheapening  the  cost  of  her 
own  goods  through  a  free-trade  policy,  and 
entering  as  a  competitor  on  equal  terms 
the  markets  of  the  world,  the  United 
States  is  sure  to  be  Eniiland's  antacjonist, 
not.  at  any  rate  for  a  long  time  to  come, 
her  commercial  ally. 

Looking  at  the  natural  resources,  still 
undeveloped  and  not  half  discovered,  and 
the  growing  population  of  the  Republic, 
occupying  half  a  new  continent,  and  look- 
ing at  the  little  Island  digging  deep  for  its 
mineral  wealth,  and  teeming  with  people 
who  jostle  one  another  for  mere  existence, 
one  can  hardly  doubt  what  the  issue  will 
be,  unless  the  little  Island  can  gather  into 
a  commercial  league,  oifensive  and  defen- 
sive, the  scattered  members  of  her  family 


Imperial  Federation.  31 

from  noi'tb  and  south,  and  east  and  west, 
who    still    bear    to    her    filial    affection! 
Whether  even  that  will  avail,  must  de- 
pend upon   the  course  of  trade  relations 
the  world  over.     Yet,  if  the  nations  of  the 
earth    are  to  be   marshalled   into   hostile 
commercial  camps— as  is  the  indication  at 
present— legislating  in  their  own  favors  as 
against   all   others,    it   would   seem   as  if 
England   and   her  colonies  could,  advan- 
tageously  to  its  members,  compose  a  power- 
ful ZoUverein,  strong  enough  to  be  self- 
supporting,     and     to     enforce    respectful 
recognition  of  its  rights  by  others.     And 
should  in  time  the  policy  of  isolation  be 
abandoned  by  the  nations  in  favor  of  more 
cosmopolitan  commercial  intercourse,   out 
of  these  close  trade  relations,  which   we 
will    suppose    have     been     harmoniously 
maintained    by    the    British    Federation, 
might  grow  a  political  pai-tnership  of  still 
wider    range,    which    would    realize    the 
highest  aspirations  of  the  Federalists. 

But  neither  a  commercial  union  of  Brit- 
ain and  her  colonies  alone,  nor  a  political 
federation  of  the  whole  Anglo-Saxon  race, 


■•v*^^ 


32 


Canadian  Independence. 


would  be  durable,  if  effected  at  the  dicta- 
tion of  one  or  more  supreme  powers,  or  if 
the  suspicion  even  existed  that  either  was 
formed  to  subserve  special  local  interests. 
Take,  for  instance,  Canadian  trade  rela- 
tions to  the  United  States  to-day.  Reason- 
able as  it  is  that  Canada  should  not  make 
a  reciprocity  treaty  with  the  States  which 
would  discriminate  against  British  manu- 
facturers, it  is  unfortunate  that  her  relations 
to  the  mother-country"  are  such  that  she 
could  not  if  she  would,  without  the  act 
being  passed  upon  and  possibly  vetoed  by 
the  supreme  power.  The  moral  effect  of 
Canada's  refusing  to  do  so,  if  perfectly  free 
and  untrammelled,  would  be  felt  appre- 
ciably on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic — as 
keenly  in  the  United  States  as  in  England; 
whereas  a  vague  sense  of  degradation  of 
necessity  accompanies  the  refusal  in  the 
mind  of  every  Canadian  when  he  feels  that 
he  is  virtually  obliged  to  consent  to  a 
course  which  fairness  and  patriotism  would 
impel  him  to  adopt,  were  he  politically 
independent. 

It  is  impossible  to  weigh  the  material 


I  I 


M  ' 


Imperial  Federation,  33 

advantages  which  might  accrue  to  Canada 
from    commercial     intercourse    with    the 
United  States,  as  against  those  which  might 
result   from   membership   in  a  gi-eat  con- 
federation of  other  Anglo-Saxon  communi- 
ties capable  of  raising  all  the  raw  materials 
and  manufactures  that  are  natural  to  the 
tropics,  the  temperate,  and  the  arctic  zones  ; 
possessing  territory  teeming  with  an  abun' 
dance  of  mineral  wealth,  and  skill  to  turn 
it  to  account ;  and  above  all,  imbued  and 
impelled  by  the  same  love  of  liberty  and 
the  same  faculty  of   adapting  themselves 
and  their  principles  to  the  most  diverse 
conditions  of  existence.     At  the  same  time, 
this  marshalling  of  industrial  communities 
into  hostile  armies  bears  the  semblance  of 
a   retrograde  movement,   seeing   that   for 
nineteen  centuries  the  gospel  of  Christian 
communism  has  been  in  men's  hands,  if  not 
in  their  hearts.     Its  fundamental  principle, 
that  "God  hath  made    of    one  blood  all 
nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face 
of  the  earth  "  (Acts  xvii,  26),  is  as  antago- 
nistic to  dynastic  and  national  as  to  selfish 
trade  aggrandizement. 


CHAPTER  III. 


It 


ANNEXATION    AN    ALTERNATIVE    TO    INDE- 
PENDENCE. 

We  return,  therefore,  to  the  proposition 
with  which  we  set  out,  that  independence 
or  annexation  is  the  alternative  offered  to 
the  Canadian  people,  inasmuch  as  Imperial 
Federation  involves  Independence,  and  is 
only  possible  as  its  consequence ;  whereas, 
Annexation  is  a  very  possible  sequence  to 
Canada's  present  dependent  position.  In 
coming  to  a  decision,  supposing  the  decision 
to  be  reached  by  mere  process  of  reasoning 
and  feeling,  without  any  outward  control- 
ling pressure,  the  Canadian  people  may  be 
expected  to  be  influenced  by  the  same 
motives  as  would  move  an  individual 
Canadian  to  accept  or  refuse  American 
citizenship. 

There  are  many  Canadians  and  English- 
men in   the  United    States,    engaged  in 

U 


Annexation. 


35 


business  and  owning  property,  who  have 
not  taken  out  their  naturalization  papers, 
and  therefore  remain  aliens  in  a  friendly 
land.  Why  do  they  impose  political 
ostracism  on  themselves,  when,  in  most 
cases,  they  are  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the 
I'epublican  institutions  under  which  they 
thrive  ?  Simply  because,  unable  to  throw 
off  their  strong  attachment  to  their  native 
land,  they  will  not  apply  for  citizenship. 

Englishmen  feel  also  that,  so  long  as 
those  sympathies  are  strong,  they  would 
be  unable  to  act  as  loyal  citizens  of  the 
United  States  in  case  of  any  quarrel  be- 
tween their  adopted  country  and  that  of 
their  birth ;  for  no  elderly  person  can  so 
divest  himself  of  his  prejudices  (if  they  be 
so)  and  of  his  affection  for,  or  antipathy 
towards,  the  home  of  his  forefathers,  as  to 
be  a  perfectly  impartial  citizen  of  another 
country.  Many  Englishmen,  therefore, 
think  they  are  truer  to  the  land  which  has 
treated  them  generously,  and  that  they  re- 
lieve themselves  from  many  a  perplexing 
case  of  conscience,  by  retaining  their  alle- 
giance to  Great  Britain  and  depriving  them- 


i 


36 


Canadian  htdcpendence. 


I 


,  I  I 


il  I 


selves  of  certain  advantages  which  the  hind 
of  their  adoption  liberally  offers.  At  the 
same  time,  living  under  American  institu- 
tions, an  Englishman  enjoys  the  common 
privileges  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  and  he 
feels  that  there  is  no  such  incongruity  in 
making  the  United  States  his  home,  and 
seeing  his  children  settle  there  and  grow 
up  into  Americans,  as  there  would  be  in 
deciding  to  end  his  days  and  contemplate 
the  education  and  domestication  and  nat- 
uralization of  his  family  in  any  European 
state. 

Another  reason  which  repels  English- 
men from  seeking  naturalization  is  the 
bitterness  expressed  against  England  by 
a  section  of  the  American  people,  and  the 
unfair  criticisms  levelled  against  her,  and 
the  unjust  insinuations,  and  the  imputations 
of  unwarrantable  motives  with  ^vhich  Eng- 
lish affairs  and  the  relations  of  England  to 
America  are  discussed  in  the  American 
press.  We  know  that  much  of  this  rhodo- 
montade  is  but  a  dishonest  bid  for  votes, 
and  a  contemptible  method  of  increasing 
the  sale  of  newspapers ;  but,  nevertheless, 


Annexation. 


37 


the  votes  must  be  many  which  respectable 
l)oliticians  will  descend  to  secure  by  such 
methods  ;  and  abuse  of  Great  Britain  must 
be  grateful  to  a  large  number  of  readers  to 
induce  influential  journals  to  print  the  ri- 
diculous statements  and  criticisms  which 
irritate  not  only  Englishmen  but  intelligent 
and  candid  Americans. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Irish  population  of 
the  United  States  is,  to  a  man,  violently 
anti-British,  and  it  is  per  capita  politically 
the  most  active,  and,  therefore,  influential, 
section  of  the  people.  The  Germans  and 
Scandinavians  have  no  acute  antipathy  to 
Great  Britain,  but  they  have  no  sympathy 
with  her,  and  were  an  anti-Euijlish  crv 
raised,  would  readily  join  in  it.  The  prev- 
alence of  this  antipathy  jars  on  the  feelings 
of  an  Englishman  resident  in  the  United 
States,  and  deters  him  from  accepting  the 
privileges  which  citizenship  confers. 

The  same  feelings,  excited  by  the  same 
causes,  undoubtedly  animate  a  large  section 
of  the  Canadian  people  against  annexation. 
It  may  be  very  foolish  on  the  part  of  an 
Englishman  to  deny  himself  the  advantages 


38 


Canadian  Independence. 


and  the  security  of  property  which  citizeu- 
ship  confers,  and  on  the  part  of  Canada  to 
allow  sentiment  to  interfere  with  prosperity 
(supposing  that  it  does),  but  the  United 
States  would  not  be  the  United  States  were 
it  not  that  it  owes  its  institutions  and 
racial  strength  to  that  very  England,  whose 
sons  to-day,  while  admiring  it  and  living 
under  its  flag,  and  working  hard  to  ad- 
vance its  prosperity,  yet  cling  too  tena- 
ciously to  the  traditions  of  the  old  stock 
to  readily  disown  allegiance  to  the  mother- 
country  ;  and  Canada  would  not  be  Canada 
were  it  not  for  a  larsje  infusion  of  the 
United  Empire  Loyalists  into  the  popula- 
tion of  Ontario  and  the  Maritime  Provinces. 
The  spirit  which  impelled  those  fugitives 
to  forsake  home  and  to  abandon  their 
property  for  an  idea,  and  that  idea  patriotic 
affection  to  England,  is  not  dead  yet. 

It  is  undeniable  that  in  Canada  itself 
there  are  groups  of  the  population  indiffer- 
ent, if  not  hostile,  to  Great  Britain.  The 
Celt  of  Canada  is  a  Celt  still,  Avitli  all  his 
Saxon  antipathies,  and  the  French-Canadian 
is  a  Frenchman  still,  with  religious  princi- 


Aimexation. 


39 


pies,  racial  instincts,  traditions,  and  memo- 
ries, which  tend  to  keep  him  from  amalga- 
mating into  one  people  with  the  English 
elements  of  the  body  politic. 

But  these  are  only  sections  of  a  people 
which,  as  a  whole,  is  loyal  to  England. 
The  attitude  of  professional  politicians 
towards  the  Anglophobists  on  the  opposite 
sides  of  the  line  is  suggestive.  In  the 
United  States  the  anti-English  sentiment  is 
expressed  or  encouraged  by  pai'ty  leaders 
and  by  newsi:>apers,  in  order  to  weld  into 
more  manageable  shape,  for  political  pur- 
poses, certain  classes  of  voters.  Some 
Canadian  politicians  have  tried  cautiously, 
but  found  it  dangerous,  to  use  the  same 
tactics ;  for  while  the  bulk  of  the  popula- 
tion on  the  one  side  of  the  line  is  loyal  to 
England,  the  bulk  of  the  population  on  the 
other  is  simply  indifferent. 

But  this  hostility  or  indifference  per- 
vades the  people  of  the  United  States  less 
widely  than  might  be  expected,  and  the 
feeling  of  attachment  to  England  is  extra- 
ordinarily strong,  considering  how  dilute 
and  remote  the  kinship  is  becoming. 


r^ 


40 


Canadian  Independence, 


The  colonists  who  revolted  lumbered 
less  than  three  millions/  and  of  these  the 
Dutch  of  New  York  and  the  Swedes, 
Dutch,  and  Germans  of  Pennsylvania 
formed  a  large  contingent.  The  white 
po];)ulation  had  not  increased  to  much 
above  5,000,000  when  the  War  of  1812 
embroiled  the  kindred  peoples  in  hostility. 
Since  then  there  have  been  incorporated  by 
direct  immigration  three  and  one  half 
millions  of  Irish,  all  cherishing  grievances 
against  the  land  of  their  expatriation ; 
six  millions  of  Germans,  Scandinavians, 
and  Slavs,  who,  if  they  do  not  harbor 
dislike,  have  brought  with  them  from  their 
homes  a  vague  jealousy  of  Great  Britain ; 
and  one  and  one  half  millions  of  French 
and  French-Canadians,  with  whom  aversion 
to,  amounting  in  some  to  hatred  of,  "  per- 
fidious AlV)ion  "  is  an  article  of  faith.  And 
yet  this  mixed  population  has  assimilated 
English  ideas,  has  adopted  the  English 
language,  and  is  applying  in  practice  the 
essential  doctrines  of  English  political 
liberty  and  jurisprudence. 

'  The  census  for  1790  gives  the  white  population  at  3,172,- 
006  and  the  black  at  757,208. 


Annexation. 


41 


The  universal  use  of  the  English  lan- 
guage is  a  most  noteworthy  instance  of 
the  unifying  process  now  going  on  in  the 
United  States.  Wherever  English  is  spoken, 
it  is  intelligible  English.  In  England  there 
are  dialects  so  different  fi'om  literary  Eng- 
lish and  so  obscui'e  that  a  cultivated  native 
cannot  understand  them.  But  the  English 
of  America  is  a  language  which  every  Eng- 
lish-thinking and  -speaking  person  can  com- 
prehend and  converse  in.  There  are  peculi- 
arities of  intonation  and  accentuation  in 
the  American  speech ;  and  the  use  of  cer- 
tain peculiar  words  and  phrases  distin- 
guishes different  sections,  but  Americans 
of  the  East  understand  those  of  the  West, 
and  those  of  the  Noi'th  understand  those  of 
the  South,  w^hile  a  Dorsetshire  peasant  can- 
not converse  with  a  Yorkshire  man. 

The  universal  use  of  the  English  language 
and  consequent  familiarity  with  English 
lite.ature,  coupled  with  closer  and  closer 
commercial  and  social  intercourse  between 
Old  England  and  New  England,  in  her 
expansion  over  the  whole  continent,  is  cre- 
ating an  English  sentiment,  and  is  oblitera- 
ting the  positively  hostile  feeling    which 


j" 


42 


Canadian  Independence. 


was  acute  in  1812;  wliicli  was  dying  out 
prior  to  the  War  of  Secession,  but  which 
was  then  revived  by  England's  staunch  neu- 
trality and  the  undisguised  sympathy  with 
the  Southern  cause  of  many  Canadians. 

In  April  last,  when  the  marines  and  sea- 
men of  the  nine  fleets  which  anchored  in 
New  York  harbor  to  celebrate  the  Colum- 
bian quadro-centennial  pas>:.ed  through  the 
streets  of  New  York,  a  heartier  and  \varmer 
welcome  was  shouted  to  the  English  con- 
tingent than  even  to  the  French  and  Rus- 
sian. The  seamen  of  the  American  and 
Enojilsh  fleets  marched  with  so  distinct  a 
swing  and  exhibited  so  expressively  the 
same  air  of  good  humor  that  it  was  impos- 
sible not  to  recognize  a  brotherhood  of  race, 
and  inherited  sea  instincts.  This  co-frater- 
nity appealed  so  irresistibly  to  the  crowds 
of  Americans  of  diverse  origin  (not  lialf  of 
them  of  American  parentage)  ^vhich  lined 
the  streets,  that  it  elicited  for  the  British 
tars  almost  as  hearty  cheers  as  those  which 
greeted  the  men  of  the  White  Squadron. 
The  parade  occurred  at  the  very  time  a 
court  of  arbitration  was  sitting  in  Paris  to 


Annexation. 


43 


settle  a  dispute  which,  in  any  other  age 
than  this,  or  if  existing  between  any  other 
nations,  would  have  been  settled  by  force 
of  arras. 

Were  Canadians  to  become  citizens  of  the 
United  States  by  their  own  will  and  option, 
there  would  be  little  seen  and  heard,  unless 
they  sought  offence  where  none  was  meant, 
which  would  wound  their  love  for  their 
old  home ;  the  influence  of  their  votes  on 
the  other  hand,  and  still  more  of  their 
moral  and  sentimental  influence  in  favor  of 
England,  would  add  weight  and  impetus 
to  the  existing  forces  which  bind  in  ever 
closer  and  friendlier  relations  the  great 
Republic  to  the  country  which  is  the 
mother-land  of  us  all. 

Although,  therefore,  patriotic  feeling  in- 
fluences, and  should  influence,  Canadians, 
individually  and  collectively,  it  should  not 
be  allowed  to  unduly  bias  the  decision  on 
the  question  of  Annexation.  This  should 
be  reached  dispassionately  by  considera- 
tions of  the  common  good,  not  only  finan- 
cial, but  political  and  social. 

Were  England  in  a  life-and-death  strug- 


r 


|! 


44 


Canadian  Independence. 


gle,  and  did  her  children  desert  her  from 
sordid  motives,  the  ignominy  of  the  act 
would  stamp  it  with  the  opprobrium  which 
attached  to  the  betrayal  of  the  Master  by 
his  perfidious  disciple.  But  there  would 
be  nothing  base  or  sordid  in  a  political 
alliance  of  one  branch  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
family  with  another,  whose  political  insti- 
tutions, if  not  identical,  are  harmonious, 
even  though  the  prominent  impelling  mo- 
tive be  financial  betterment ;  provided  the 
rupture  of  the  old  tie  be  made  with  the 
full  consent  of  the  old  partners. 

The  question  therefore  arises  :  assuming 
that  Enc:land  would  consent  to  annexa- 
tion,  would  Canada  annexed  be  more  pros- 
perous, not  than  Canada  as  she  now  is,  but 
than  she  might  be  if  by  gentle  inducement, 
or  by  violent  shock,  she  could  be  galvan- 
ized into  greater  activity  than  she  displays 
to-day  ? 

That  Canada  as  a  whole  does  not  pro- 
gress  as  rapidly  as  her  neighbor,  is  a  sta- 
tistical fact,  and  one  of  such  serious 
importance  that  it  claims  anxious  investi- 
gation.    Every  Canadian   census,  till  the 


Annexation. 


45 


last,  has  shown  a  healthy  active  growth. 
Now  that  Canada  undoubtedly  occupies  a 
more  important  position  among  the  com- 
munities of  the  world,  politically,  industri- 
ally, and  geographically,  than  ever  before, 
population  ceases  to  flow  in,  or,  if  it  flows 
in,  it  flows  out  again  in  so  steady  a  stream 
that  she  barely  maintains  the  normal  in- 
crfase  that  is  natural  to  a  young  people 
with  abundance  of  laud  unoccupied,  and  of 
resources  undeveloped. 

She  exhibited  between  1880  and  1890  a 
power  of  attracting  and  absorbing  popula- 
tion equal  to  only  half  of  that  of  her 
neighbor.  In  this  comparison  lies  the  most 
perj^lexing  and  disquieting  feature  of  the 
question:  for  if  the  United  States  con- 
tinues growing  into  a  giant,  while  Canada 
shrinks  into  a  dwarf,  with  the  distorted 
and  unhealthy  impulses  which  affect  peo- 
ple, as  well  as  individuals,  of  impaired 
development,  the  result  can  be  easily  fore- 
cast. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Canada's  slow  progress  (compared  with 

THAT     OB^     AUSTRALIA     AND      THE      UNITED 
states)    DUE   TO    PHYSICAL    CONDITIONS. 

The  growth  of  population  in  Canada  has 
not  even  reached  a  high  standard  of  natural 
increase,  and  therefore  the  800,000  who 
have  entered  as  immigrants,  during  the 
last  decennial  period,  have  about  compen- 
sated for  an  equal  number  of  immigrants, 
composed  in  part  of  those  same  immigrants, 
who  merely  passed  through  Canada,  but 
principally  of  Canadians,  who  left  to  seek 
their  fortunes  elsewhei'e,  most,  but  not  all, 
in  the  United  States. 

The  decennial  increase  of  the  following 
European  nations  between  1860  and  1870 
was  calculated  by  a  Commission  of  French 
savants,  into  whose  table  I  insert  the  per- 
centage growth  of  the  United  States  and 

46 


Canada  s  Slow  Progress.  47 


Canada  between  1880  and  1890.  These 
figures  are  in  most  cases  higher  than  those 
arrived  at  by  Bodio. 


United   States,    between  1880  and  1890. 


Per  cent. 
Per  cent,      per       Bodio. 
annum. 


Russia  do 

Sweden  do 
England  «Si  Wales     do 

Prussia  do 

Canada  do 

Italy  do 

Spain  do 

France  do 


i860  and  1870. . 

do 

do 

do 
1880  and  i8go. . 
i860  and  1870. . 

do 

do 


24.S  or  2.48 
13.9       1.39 


13.3 
12.6 
12.6 
II. 6 

8.3 
6.7 
3.8 


1-33 
1.26 
1.26 
1. 16 

.83 
.67 
.38 


I. II 

1.24 
.98 

.71 

.35 
•35 


None  of  these  countries,  except  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  was  notably 
affected  by  immigration,  though  some  lost 
heavily  by  emigration.  Canada  thus  stands 
at  the  foot  of  the  class  of  nations  of  healthy 
growth.  Considering  the  prolific  habits  of 
the  French  Canadian  peasantry,  she  should 
stand  higher  from  natural  increase  alone. 

She  should  be  the  compeer  of  Australia 
and  the  United  States,  for  they  and  Canada 
for  several  decades  have  been  the  magnetic 
centres  to  which  the  world's  surplus  popu- 
lation  has  been  attracted.  Of  the  three, 
Australia    has    grown   the   most   rapidly. 


48 


Canadian  Independence. 


I 


Comparing  the  population  of  her  constitu- 
ent colonies  and  of  New  Zealand  and  Tas- 
mania in  1871, 1881,  and  1891,  we  find  the 
decennial  gain  in  population  to  have  been 
as  follows : 


1871. 

New  Zealand 256,393 

Victoria 731,528 

South  Australia. . .  .  185,626 

New  South  Wales.  .  503,981 

Queensland 120,104 

Western  Australia. .  25,353 

Tasmania ...  101,785 


Per  cent. 

Per  cent. 

1881. 

gain. 

1891.   i 

;ain. 

489.933- 

.90.9 

626,658. 

.20.8 

862,346. 

.17.8 

1,140,405. 

.32.2 

279,865. 

.50.8 

320,430. 

.18.0 

751,468. 

.49.1 

1.132,230. 

.52.0 

213,525. 

.77.7 

393,718. 

.84.3 

29,708. 

.17.1 

49,782. 

.67.5 

115,705. 

.13-4 

146,667. 

.26.7 

I 


The  total  population  of  the  above  colo- 
nies was  in  1871,  1,924,770,  and  in  1891, 
3,809,890.  Their  growth  in  20  years  was 
97.9  per  cent,  or  4.8  per  cent,  per  annum. 
The  colony  of  Victoria  had,  in  1891,  12.9 
inhabitants  per  square  mile  to  20.6  in  the 
United  States,  and  1.42  in  Canada. 

There  is  no  doubt  of  the  inaccuracy  of 
the  results  of  the  United  States  census  for 
several  decades  past.  Apart  from  the 
errors  in  local  enumeration,  the  Census 
Bureau  itself  discredits  the  reliability  of 
the  census  of  1870,  and  wishes  to  revise  the 


Canada  s  Slow  Progress.  49 

totals.  Taking  the  figures  as  they  stand, 
the  population  of  the  United  States  was 
in — 

Decennial. 
Per  cent,  gain. 

i860 31,443,321   

1870 38,558,371   •.   22.6 

1880 50,155,783   ••   30.0 

iSgo 62,622,250     ..     24.8 

As  revised  for  1870,  the  totals  would 
stand : 

Decennial. 
Per  cent.  gain. 

i860 31,443,321  

1870 39,818,449  ..   26,6 

1880 50,155,783  ..   25.9 

1890 62,622,250  ..   24.8 

The  population  of  Canada  during  the 
same  period  shows  the  following  fluctua- 
tions : 

Decennial. 
Percent,  gain. 

1861 3,171,418      

1871 3,686,596      ..       16.2 

1881 4,324.810      ..       17.3 

1891 4,829,411     ..      II. 6 

Australia  has,  therefore,  grown  more 
rapidly  than  any  of  the  other  oifshoots  of 

the  Anglo-Saxon  stock.     Though  her  total 

3 


50 


Canadian  Independence. 


i|i  I 


population  is  comparatively  small,  and  the 
actual  increment  has  been  only  about  8  per 
cent,  of  that  of  the  United  States,  never- 
theless her  marvellous  vitality  would  seem 
conclusively  to  contradict  the  assumption 
that  her  colonial  form  of  government  has 
had  a  repellent  influence  on  immigration. 
While  the  socialistic  tendency  of  Australian 
legislation  may  have  had  an  attraction  for 
such  intelligent  immigrants  as  have  been 
able  to  meet  the  cost  of  a  voyage  to  the 
antipodes,  the  inference  nevertheless  is  that 
emigrants  in  general  are  not  prejudiced  in 
favor  of  one  form  of  representative  govern- 
ment over  another,  provided  there  be  full 
liberty  of  self-government.  If  this  be  so, 
Canada  is  not  deserted  because  she  is  a 
colony,  but  for  other  reasons. 

There  are  points  of  resemblance  between 
Australia  and  the  United  States,  and  points 
of  difference  between  Canada  and  Australia, 
which  may  help  to  explain  the  stagnation 
of  immigration  into  Canada. 

Climate  is  a  potent  factor  in  determining 
immigration.  Between  Southern  New  Zea- 
land and  Northern  Queensland,  there  is  a 


Cajiadas  Slozo  Progress.  51 

wider  range  of  temperature  than  between 
Texas  and  Maine.  Though  New  Zealand 
has  the  mean  temperature  of  Eastern  New 
York,  the  northern  half  of  Australia  is  in 
the  ti'opics.  In  spite  of  tlie  aridity  of 
Australia,  the  freedom  from  extreme  cold 
has  undoubtedly  its  effect  on  the  fancy  of 
the  immigrant.  And  no  wonder  !  for  half 
the  energies  of  the  population  of  Quebec 
and  Manitoba,  and  no  small  share  of  its 
wealth,  ai*e  exj^ended  in  keeping  itself 
warm  and  battling  with  snow  and  ice. 

Of  the  direct  effect  of  climate,  the 
United  States  census  gives  many  an 
example.  For  instance  its  rigorous  climate 
is  doubtless   the  reason   why  Maine, — 

Per  cent. 

between  i860  and  1870,  declined 0.22 

between  1870  and  18 So,  increased  only 3.51 

between  1880  and  1890,  increased  only 1.87 

while  North"  Carolina,  with  as  poor  a  soil, 
and  but  few  manufactures,  even  during  the 
war  period, — 

Per  cent. 

from  i860  to  1870,  gained i.g 

from  1870  to  1880,  gained 30.6 

from  1880  to  1890,  gained   15.5 


f"  J; 


■  i 


I 


52 


Canadian  Independence. 


Mineral  wealth  is  as  potent  a  factor  as 
climate  in  determining  the  current  of  immi- 
gration. 

The  tremendous  waves  of  population 
which  flow  into  a  district  under  the  in- 
fluence of  speculative  mining  nearly  doubled 
the  population  of  Colorado  between  1870 
and  1880,  and  more  than  doubled  the 
population  of  Montana  between  1880  and 
1890.  Both  these  States,  like  California, 
had  other  resources  than  mines,  which  re- 
sources those  who  failed  in  mining  turned 
their  hands  to  developing,  and  have  thus 
created  communities  with  permanent  and 
stable  industries. 

Australia,  under  like  physical  conditions, 
has  experienced  similar  accessions  to  its 
population.  Though  the  absence  of  such 
vast  tracts  of  fertile  land  as  have  drawn  so 
much  of  the  surplus  population  of  the 
world  to  the  prairies  of  the  West,  will  of 
necessity  limit  the  number  which  Australia 
can  ultimately  accommodate,  her  very 
aridity  has  facilitated  the  discovery  of 
minerals,  and  been  the  prime  mover  thither 
of  population.    In  a  barren,  treeless  region. 


Canada  s  Slaiv  Progress. 


53 


where  the  rocks  are  exposed,  minerals,  if 
they  exist,  are  easily  and  rapidly  dis- 
covei'ed. 

The  surprising  speed  with  which  the 
mining  of  precious  metals  drew  the  hardiest 
and  most  enterprising  of  the  reckless 
sj^irits  of  the  world  to  California,  after 
1848,  was  almost  exceeded  during  the  next 
decade  in  the  experience  of  Australia.  Of 
the  multitudes  who  then  and  have  since 
flocked  to  both  scenes  of  mining  excite- 
ment, the  major  part,  disappointed  in  their 
search  for  fortune  beneath  the  soil,  have, 
in  despair,  turned  their  energies  to  cattle 
ranching  or  agriculture,  and  created  large 
communities  of  people,  far  above  the  aver- 
age in  intelligence  and  enterprise. 

Canada  has  undoubtedly  mineral  wealth, 
but  nature  has  very  carefully  hidden  it,  as 
if  to  save  it  for  future  generations  and 
prevent  its  reckless  exhaustion.  The 
Canadian  Rocky  Mountains  are  probably 
as  richly  impregnated  with  gold  and  silver 
as  the  same  ranges  south  of  the  line,  but 
they  are  heavily  clad  with  soil  and  forest. 
Exploration  is  therefore  difficult,  discovery 


:lf 


\] 


\:' 


ft 


Jll  i     I 


54 


Canadian  Independence. 


is  slow,  and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  pro- 
spector seldom  reaches  that  white  heat 
which  precedes  and  creates  a  "  rush." 

These  reasons  may  explain  why  the 
Eastern  Provinces  of  Canada  make  no  bet- 
ter progress  than  Maine,  and  why  British 
Columbia  does  not  keep  pace  with  Montana. 
The  United  States  has  heretofore  won  most 
of  her  immigrants  by  offering  them  high 
wages  in  her  mines  and  manufactories,  or 
by  presenting  them  with  cheap,  rich  lands 
in  a  temperate  zone.  Canada  has  not,  and 
cannot,  hold  out  similar  or  equal  induce- 
ments, and  therefore  till  wages  fall  in  the 
United  States,  and  the  more  desirable 
lands  are  absorbed,  it  is  unlikely  that 
Canada  will  keep  pace  with  her  neighbor. 


<  i^ 


I: 


CHAPTER  V. 


IP   THE  "  NATIONAL "   OR   PROTECTION   POLICY 

HAS  FAILED  TO  ATTRACT  POPULATION  TO 

CANADA,  WILL  ANNEXATION  DO  SO  ? 

Canada  cannot  attract  a  large  manufac- 
turing population,  because  she  cannot  give 
it  work.  The  reason  why  she  cannot,  is 
not  far  to  seek.  The  most  palpable  cause 
for  the  languishing  state  of  certain  manu- 
factures in  Canada  is  the  want  of  a  large 
home  market.  Applying  high  duties  keeps 
out  foreign  goods,  and  secures  the  home 
market  to  the  home  manufactures.  If  the 
home  market  be  big  enough,  the  policy 
works  admirably  for  the  manufacturer  and 
the  operative.  Dear  goods  can  aiford  to 
pay  costly  labor,  and  all  are  happy  but  the 
consumer,  who  ha^  to  buy  the  dear  goods. 
If  the  consumers  are  numerous  enouirh  to 
support  extensive  industries,  and  the  in- 

55 


ll 


I 


56 


Canadian  Independence, 


dustries  by  means  of  trusts  and  combina- 
tions restrict  their  production  to  the  home 
demand,  the  manufacturer  heaps  up  wealth, 
certain  groups  of  the  laboring  classes  are 
well  paid,  and  people  in  certain  sections 
are  prosperous.  The  whole  train  of  conse- 
quences follows  the  protective  policy  of  the 
United  States,  because  the  home  market 
is  so  large,  and  is  ever  growing.   • 

It  did  not  follow  the  protective  National 
Policy  in  Canada,  because  the  market  was 
too  restricted  to  allow  of  manufacturing: 
on  a  scale  which  would  employ  enough  of 
her  native  population  to  raise  wages  to  any- 
thing like  the  standard  in  the  Eastern  and 
Western  States.  No  immigrant  was  tempted 
to  enter  Canada  from  abroad  by  the  offer 
of  high  wages,  and  no  Canadian  was  re- 
strained from  migrating  by  the  offer  of 
even  equal  wages  at  home  to  those  that 
tempted  him  in  the  Eastern  and  Western 
States. 

If,  therefore,  the  National  Policy  has 
failed  to  produce  all  the  results  which 
were  anticipated  from  it,  will  absolute 
reciprocity  confer  the  coveted  benefit  ?    If 


Attraction  of  Population. 


57 


mills  have  not  been  built,  and  population 
has  not  flowed  in  to  work  them,  because 
Canada  has  only  5,000,000  of  people  to 
clothe  and  house,  would  her  lot  be  better 
were  she  coupled  up  with  her  63,000,000 
of  neicrhbors  ?     We  doubt  it. 

Maine  is  within  the  charmed  circle.  It 
has  lumber  in  abundance,  and  water  power 
runs  to  waste  in  a  hundred  rivers,  but  the 
population  of  Maine  by  the  last  census 
shows  an  increase  of  only  1.8  per  cent,  in 
10  years.  But  Maine  is  as  cold  as  Quebec, 
her  soil  is  poor,  and  the  labor  of  reclaiming 
it  oppressive. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  higher  wages 
which  have  prevailed  through  active  manu- 
facturing: in  some  sections  of  the  United 
States  have  attracted  immigrants,  the 
abundance  and  cheapness  of  land  in  a 
temperate  climate  has  been  another  temp- 
tation. Canada  also  possesses  boundless 
land  which  is  open  to  occupation,  under 
the  Homestead  Act,  as  freely  as  that  in  the 
United  States ;  but  the  unoccupied  lands 
of  Quebec  and  Ontario  are  uninviting,  and 
the   prairie   lands  of  the   Northwest    are 


1.1 


58 


Canadian  Independence. 


repellently  cold.  The  movement  of  popu- 
lation in  North  Dakota  exemplifies  the 
aversion  of  the  immigrant  to  cold,  and  the 
risk  which  it  entails.  Dakota  is  Manitoba's 
neighbor  to  the  south,  and  the  statistical 
returns  from  that  State  are  particularly 
instructive : 

Between  1880  and  1890  North  Dakota 
grew  from  36,909  to  182,719  or  393.05  per 
cent. ;  South  Dakota  from  98,208  to  328,- 
808  or  234.60  percent. ;  considered  as  one, 
from  135,177  to  511,527  or  278.46  per 
cent. 

But  in  1885  a  territorial  census  was 
made.  It  showed  that  the  Dakotas  then 
contained  415,610  inhabitants,  and  therefore 
exhibited  growth  between  1880  and  1885 
of  207.4  per  cent.,  and  between  1885  and 
1890  of  only  26.7  per  cent.  Evidently, 
therefore,  climatic  conditions  have  disap- 
pointed the  Dakotan  farmer  as  well  as  the 
Manitoban. 

In  the  old  prairie  States  where  land  is 
no  lonjT^er  obtainable  for  the  mere  askins^, 
rapid  growth  has  of  necessity  ceased.  The 
following  paragraph  from  the  compendium 


Attraction  of  Population. 


59 


of  the  Eleventlt  United  States  Census,  p.  xli, 
is  worthy  of  study  : 

"  In  Ohio,  Indiana,  Iowa,  and  Missouri, 
and  in  Illinois,  if  the  city  of  Chicago  be 
dropped  out  of  consideration,  the  rate  of 
increase  has  declined  very  decidedly.  In 
Ohio  it  has  fallen  from  19.99  to  14.83  per 
cent.  In  Indiana  from  17.71  to  10.82  per 
cent.  In  Iowa  from  36.06  to  17.68  percent. 
In  Missouri  from  25.97  to  23.56  percent.,  in 
spite  of  the  rapid  growth  of  St.  Louis  and 
Kansas  City ;  and  in  Illinois,  dropping 
Chicago  from  consideration,  from  14.89  to 
5.9  per  cent.  In  these  States  the  agricul- 
tural industry,  which  is  still  the  prominent 
one,  has  begun  to  decline  owing  to  the 
sharp  competition  of  western  farms." 

But,  despite  this  sharp  competition,  we 
have  seen  that  Dakota,  the  newest  and 
most  vigorous  of  these  western  rivals,  has 
ceased  growing  with  phenomenal  rapidity, 
and  Kansas,  the  most  powerful,  according 
to  the  State  census,  accumulated  two  thirds 
of  her  decennial  gain  dui'ing  the  first  half 
of  the  decade,  and  during  the  last  year  of 
the  decade  actually  lost  37,818  of  her  in- 


6o 


Canadian  Independence. 


habitants.  The  same  is  true,  thougli  to  a 
less  startling  extent,  of  Minnesota.  That 
rich  prairie  State,  which  has  not  yet  begun 
to  feel  the  impoverishment  of  its  fertile 
lands,  "  increased  77.57  per  cent,  between 
1870  and  1880  and  G6.74  per  cent,  between 
1880  and  1890,  the  numerical  increase 
being  over  half  a  million  in  the  past  decade. 
The  State  census  taken  in  1885  showed 
that  the  bulk  of  this  increase  occurred 
between  1880  and  1885.  The  numerical 
increase  durinoj  the  first  five  vears  was 
337,025  and  the  rate  of  increase  43.17  per 
cent.,  while  during  the  last  half  of  the 
decade  the  numerical  increase  was  184,028, 
and  the  rate  of  increase  16.46  per  cent." 
(compendium  of  the  Eleventh  United  States 
Census,  p.  xli).  The  climate  of  the 
Canadian  Northwest  under  the  shelter 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  being  milder 
than  the  United  States  Territories 
immediately  south  of  the  line,  and  good 
arable  land  in  abundance  being  still  open 
to  homesteaders  there  is  a  small  but  steady 
stream  of  immisjrants  across  the  border 
northward. 


Attraction  of  Populatiofi.  6i 

• 

Returning  to  the  statistical  summary 
given  above,  the  manipulated  figures  shov^^ 
a  percentage  decline  in  the  growth  of  the 
United  States  between  1880  and  1890  of 
1.1  per  cent,  but  following  the  actual 
returns,  the  decline  was  5.22  per  cent. 
Compared  with  the  previous  decennial 
period,  the  decline  for  the  corresponding 
period  in  Canada  was  5.65  per  cent.  Of 
course  w^  e  do  not  pretend  that  a  percentage 
decline  of  equal  amount  from  such  differ- 
ent aggregates  as  the  population  of 
Canada  and  the  United  States  is  equally 
portentous  to  both,  but  a  decline  in  botu 
cases  may  mark  the  turning-point  in  the 
movement  of  population  to  this  continent. 
Naturally  the  decline  will  be  more  marked 
in  the  less  favored  region,  and  taken  as  a 
whole  and  all  in  all,  Canada  is  less  favored 
than  the  United  States.  In  point  of  fact 
the  actual  volume  of  immigration  to  the 
United  States  is  not  rapidly  declining.  The 
percentage  volume  is,  however,  shrinking, 
and  the  quality  and  destination  of  the 
immigrants  are  changing  most  notably. 
From  the  report  on  immigration  published 


il 


r^ 


i 


62  Canadian  Indcpc7idcnce. 

by  the  Treasury  Department  of  the  United 
States  in  1891  we  extract  the  followino; 
figures  which  show  conclusively  the  source 
W'hence  future  immigration  will  be  chiefly 
drawn. 

Arrivals  in  the  Arrivals  in  the 

U.  S.  in  1869.  U.  S.  in  iSgo. 

Austria-Hungary i,495  29,632 

Germany 131,042  92,427 

Great  Britain 43,434  69,790 

Ireland 40,786  53,024 

Italy 1,489  52,003 

Norway 16,068  ii,37o 

Poland 184  11,073 

Russia 343  33,147 

Finland o  2,451 

Sweden 24,224  29,632 

Switzerland 3,650  6,993 

Total  Europe 3^5,543  443,225 

British  America 21,117  and  in  1885     38,291 


The  report  gives  the  numbor  of  immi- 
grants from  British  America  between  1873 
and  1885  at  688,813.  Since  1885  the  law 
has  made  no  provisions  for  taking  count  of 
immigrants  entering  the  United  States  by 
land. 

This  large  influx  of  Poles,  Slavs  and 
Italians  settles  in  the  seaboard  cities,  and 
in  the  iron,  coal,  and  coke  regions.   Italians 


: 


Attraction  of  Population.  63 

have  largely  replaced  the  Irish  as  street- 
sweepers  and  railroad  navvies,  and  Poles 
furnish  the  hands  with  which  the  iron  and 
coal  magnates  have  opposed  the  demands 
of  the  native  laborers.  There  has  been  a 
decrease  in  the  introduction  of  skilled  labor 
and  good  farmei's,  and  an  increase  in  the 
number  of  unskilled  immigrants,  who  can- 
not and  do  not  combine  to  maintain  a  stand- 
ard of  wages.  The  result,  if  this  state  of 
things  continues,  will  be,  not  only  that  the 
intellectual  status  of  the  electorate  will  be 
lowered,  but  the  standard  of  wages  paid 
for  unskilled  labor  will  sink  and  the  temp- 
tation to  indiscriminate  immigration  will 
be  lessened. 

To  sum  up,  Canada  can  offer  no  induce- 
ment to  foreigners  to  operate  her  manufac- 
tories, which  were  and  will  be  few  till  her 
population  is  large  enough  to  absorb  the 
product  of  many,  or  till  she  seeks  a  foreign 
market,  for  she  has  a  surplus  of  cheap  labor 
at  home.  Her  wild  forest  lands  are  too 
difficult  to  reclaim,  and  too  slow  in  sup- 
porting the  farmer,  to  be  occupied  while 
there  is  any  prairie  land  unappropriated. 


64 


Canadian  Independc7icc. 


Her  prairie  lands  lie  north  of  the  favored 
zone,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  her  neighbor 
Dakota,  are  less  eagerly  coveted,  when  their 
^iraate  has  been  experienced,  than  lands 
the  south.  British  Columbia,  unfortu- 
nately, comprises  within  her  bounds  so  little 
agricultural  land,  that  were  every  acre  of 
it  occupied,  the  growth  oi  population  could 
not  be  a  tithe  of  that  of  the  State  of  Wash- 
ington ;  and  British  Columbia's  mineral 
wealth  is  so  hidden  by  forest  and  soil,  that 
though  a  large  contingent  of  American 
prospectors  are  searching  for  it,  discovery 
is  of  necessity  far  slower  than  in  the  con- 
tiguous States  of  Montana  and  Idaho.  These 
natural  disadvantages  attach  to  her,  as  they 
do  to  Maine  and  North  Dakota.  Her  po- 
litical condition  or  affiliations  do  not  affect 
them. 

Canada  must,  therefore,  face  the  fact 
that  she  has  serious  physical  and  geographi- 
cal obstacles  to  contend  against,  and  be 
content  to  make  haste  slowly.  This,  after 
all,  is  a  lesser  evil  than  being  overrun  by  a 
large  horde  of  ignorant  alien  immigrants. 


ii 


CHAPTER  VI. 


PKOBABLE  EFFECT  OF  ANNEXATION  ON  CANA- 
DIAN INDUSTRIES  AND  WAGES. 

TiiEEE  are  good  and  substantial  reasons 
why  Canada's  progress  in  population  should 
be  less  than  that  of  her  neighbor, 'but  there 
is  no  good  reason  why  it  should  be  so  slow 
as  it  is.  Thei'e  is  in  Canada  a  latent  sus- 
picion that  something  is  wrong,  but  instead 
of  seeking  for  the  source  of  her  shortcom- 
ings at  home,  in  her  own  habits  and  busi- 
ness methods,  she  is  prone  to  charge  them 
wholly  to  external  causes,  and  to  look  for 
a  remedy  in  political  changes.  To  some 
minds,  and  at  one  time  or  another  to  some 
leaders  of  almost  all  the  political  groups, 
annexation  has  been  the  panacea. 

Assuming  that  annexation  were  effected, 
whence  would  result  the  magical  improve- 
ment in  Canada's  financial  position  which 
4  65 


66 


Canadian  Independence. 


i  'I'' ' 


some  anticipate  from  it  ?  Canada's  public 
debt  was  in  1890  much  larger  (per  ca[)ita) 
tbau  that  of  the  United  States,  being  ^07.81 
per  head  as  against  ^14.24.  The  difference 
in  the  event  of  annexation  would  have  to 
be  distributed  among  and  borne  by  the 
annexed  States  and  added  to  the  expenses 
of  State  government,  which  would  not  be 
less  than  those  of  supporting  the  Provincial 
governments  now  are.  The  system  of  State 
taxation  would,  moreover,  have  to  be  re- 
vised, as  there  would  be  no  contribution 
by  the  Federal  government  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  States.  The  more  impecuni- 
ous States  would  then  whine  in  vain  for 
better  terms  when  in  financial  straits. 

It  is  questionable  whether  manufacturing 
in  general  would  be  stimulated  by  annexa- 
tion. There  is  a  tendency  towards  segrega- 
tion in  manufacturinij  industries  directed 
by  influences  which  it  is  not  always  easy 
to  detect.  The  cotton  mills  of  the  United 
States  were  first  attracted  to  certain  locali- 
ties in  New  England  by  water  power,  and 
though  they  have  grown  beyond  the 
capacity   of  the  water  power,  they   still 


Probable  Effect  of  Annexation.       67 

remain,  because  capital  lias  been  invested, 
and  skilled  labor  lias  C()n<n'eirated  there, 
though  the  material  is  brought  to  tlie  mills 
from  the  other  end  of  the  Union.  So, 
likewise,  nearly  all  of  the  copper  of  the 
United  States  is  converted  into  manufac- 
tured articles  in  the  Naugatuck  Valley, 
though  Connecticut  itself  produces  no  cop- 
per,  and  reships  a  large  proportion  of  the 
manufactured  goods  back  over  the  roads 
by  which  the  raw  material  reached  her. 
Woollen  manufacturing  is  largely  localized 
near  Philadelphia,  though  Pennsylvania 
raises  comparatively  little  wool.  If  luauu- 
facturers  went  to  the  cheap  labor  centres, 
all  the  cotton  mills  would  be  removed  to 
the  South,  where  the  raw  material  is  raised, 
and  where  labor  is  cheaper  by  far  than  it 
is  in  Canada.  But  though  a  cotton  mill,  in 
rivalry  wdth  the  North,  is  springing  up  here 
and  there  throughout  the  Southern  States, 
the  cotton  manufacturing  trade  remains 
immovable  where  it  has  long  been  located, 
and  where  economically  it  ought  not  to  be, 
far  from  raw  material,  from  cheap  labor, 
and  from  fuel. 


!r 


68 


Cajiadian  Independence. 


WliJit  likelihood  is  tl-ere,  therefore,  that 
mills  would  be  built  in  Canada  to  ein[)loy 
the  hands  who  now  flock  to  New  England  ? 
Tiiis  la}>or  w(juld  continue  to  go  fi'oni  tlie 
State  of  Quebec,  instead  of  from  the  Prov- 
ince of  Quebec,  to  the  States  of  Maine,  Con- 
necticut, Rhode  Island,  or  Massachusetts. 
The  mills  wouhl  I'emain  where  the  mills 
are  now,  and  labor  would  go  to  the  mills, 
not  the  mills  to  the  labor. 

There  are  s[)ecial  branches  of  manufac- 
ture which  at  first  sight  it  would  seem 
should  be  carried  on  in  Canada.  She  pos- 
sesses far  vaster  resources  in  lund>er  than 
the  United  States.  They  are  now  being 
used  as  rapidly,  perhaps  moi'e  so  than  is 
prudent ;  but  the  lundjer  leaves  Canada  in 
an  unmanufactured  shapes  A  minimum  of 
labor  and  skill  has  therefore  })een  ex[)ended 
on  it.  When  it  reaches  its  destination 
across  the  line,  it  is  converted  into  special 
forms  for  s[)ecial  uses.  Prosj)erous  towns 
liave  grown  U[)  on  the  southern  shores  of 
the  great  lakes,  wh(we  main  industry  is 
turning  Michigan  and  Canadian  lumber 
into  furnitui"e  jind  architcictural  decorations. 


Probable  hjfccl  of  Annexation.        69 


]5ut  thcst;  iiijinufactui'ing  centres  are  nearer 
tlieir  market  than  any  point  in  Canada 
would  be.  Ah  it  is  much  clieaper  o  trans- 
poi't  luni})er  in  tlie  rough  tlian  furniture, 
and  as  s(>  little  of  tlie  raw  mat(?rial  is  now 
wasted,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether,  under 
any  circumstances,  tlie  furniture  manufac- 
turing trade  could  be  shifted  from  the  con- 
sumer to  the  for(!st.  Canada's  true  policy 
is  to  turn  her  fine  hard  woods  into  spe- 
cialized forms  for  other  mai'kets  than  the 
Unit(Hl  States,  and  that  sne  could  do  to- 
day as  well  as  im])orted  energy  would  do 
it  for  her  after  annexation. 

Mining  would  doubtless  be  more  active 
under  annexation  than  it  is  at  present, 
provided  the  United  States  protective 
tariff  remains  in  force,  but  this  is  a  [)roviso 
that  it  is  dangerous  to  count  U[)on.  The 
existing  duty  of  70  cents  per  ton  on  coal 
is  surticient  to  exclude  Nova  Scotia  and 
Cape  Breton  coals  from  the  New  Knvdand 
market,    and    secure    the    fuel    supply    to 


r 


^yi 


ennsvivanni. 


AV^ere    it    removed,    New 


England  would  take  vastly  more  coal  from 
the  Maritime  Provinces  than  she  did  before 


I'l  r- 


70 


Canadian  Independence. 


the  expiration  of  Lord  Elgin's  lleci[)r()city 
Treaty,  and  would  much  more  than  com- 
pensate for  the  h)ss  of  the  Ontario  market, 
which  wouhl  in  case  of  annexation  or  reci- 
procity become  the  perquisite  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. But  sooner  or  later  tlie  duty  will 
be  removed  from  all  raw  mateiial,  and 
these  trade  benefits  will  accrue  to  Canada 
without  any  change  in  her  political  status. 
American  capitalists,  anticipating  this  con- 
tingency, have  already  invested  largely  in 
Mai'itime  coal. 

The  same  is  true  of  iron  ores.  Canadian 
iron  manufactui'ing  has  not  prospered. 
Why  ?  Because  it  is  said  the  home  market 
was  too  small,  the  English  market  \vas  too 
cheap,  and  the  United  States  market  was 
closed.  All  which  is  only  partly  true. 
The  atteni[)t  at  manufacturing  iron  on  a 
large  scale  has  been  made  at  London<lerry 
and  more  recently  at  Eerrona,  Nova  Scotia, 
but  though  the  government  has  offered  all 
the  assistance  that  it  dared  in  the  way  of 
bounty  and  high  tai'iff,  Canada  in  1891, 
made  only  21,772  tons  of  pigii'on,  though 
her  consumption  of  iron   and  steel  in  all 


Probable  Effect  of  Annexation.        7 1 

forms  was  estimated  as  e(|iiivalent  to  over 
500,000  tons  of  pig.  If  her  iron-ore  re- 
sources are  what  they  are  supposed  to  be, 
why  is  not  this  500,000  tons  of  pig,  of 
wrought  iron  and  steel,  made  with  lier  own 
coal,  out  of  her  own  ores,  and  by  her  oAvn 
people?  AVhy  were  $2,000,000  worth  of 
foreign  iron  and  steel  imported  '\  If  the 
material  for  manufactui'ing  be  there,  with 
the  benefits  of  a  protected  market,  all  that 
would  seem  to  be  lacking  is  the  capital, 
energy,  and  skill  necessary  to  su})ply  the 
market  with  the  material.  Pictou  County, 
Nova  Scotia,  is  the  only  spot  on  the  At- 
lantic coast  where  coal,  iron  ore,  and  flux 
exist  side  by  side  on  tide-water,  but  Cana- 
dian enterprise  has  not  yet  exerted  itself 
to  even  determine  whether  the  iron-ore 
deposits  are  of  w^orkable  extent,  despite  Sir 
William  Dawson's  reiterated  opinion  as  to 
their  apparent  value.  Doubtless,  were 
Canada  annexed,  American  energy  would 
soon  determine  the  point,  but  is  it  credita- 
ble to  Canadians  thus  to  shift  their  re- 
sponsibility, because  they  dread  the  risks, 
to  Yankee  shoulders  and  Yankee  pockets  ? 


r  ^ 


■■I 


72 


Ca  nadiaii  hidcpoidence. 


Tlie  pi'irici[)jil  c()p[)er  deposits  in  Caiuida 
are  now  in  the  JwindsofAnieric'iiis,  namely, 
the  pyrites  mines  near  Lennoxville,  in  tlie 
Province  of  Quebec,  and  the  largest  of  tlie 
nickel-copper  ore  miners  of  Sudbury,  in  the 
Province  of  Ontario.  The  sairie  is  true  of 
Canada's  lead  resoui'ces.  Americans  I'isked 
their  money  and  failed  on  Lake  Temisca- 
mini'ue,  and  Americans  have  ])ou<jjht  the 
innnense  lead  de[)osits  of  Lake  Kootenay  in 
British  Columbia.  These  will  be  devel- 
oped I'egardless  of  i'eci[)rocity  or  annexa- 
tion ;  and  if  the  duty  be  I'emoved  from  lead 
ores  entering  the  United  States,  they  will 
be  introduced  in  the  raw  state  into  the 
United  States  as  though  they  had  been 
produced  on  American  teiritoiy.  Thus  the 
'  profits  will  go  to  those  who  take  the  risks, 
not  to  the  Canadians  who  clamor  for  an- 
nexation that  they  may  more  readily  sell 
their  bii'thright.  If  Canada  were  annexed, 
or  should  i'eci[)i'<)city  be  secured,  mining 
would  receive  an  impulse,  and  more  Cana- 
dians would  be  employed  on  wage-woi'k, 
for  the  foreign  coi'porations  who  would  reap 
the   profits,  if  any  accrue,   wlii(;h   must  to- 


Probable  Ejjccl  of  Annexation.        73 

(lay  redouiid  to  Canadiiui  entei'piise,  were 
it  willing  to  jeopai'dizo  a  little  of  its 
capital. 

It  inust  l)e,  however,  remembered  that 
the  removal  of  protective  duties  from  ore 
and  metals  ent(U"ing  the  United  States, 
should  this  he  one  of  che  I'esults  of  tariff 
i-eform,  will  i'educ(^  their  price  to  the  level 
which  they  command  in  the  Kui'opean  mar- 
ket, and  th(ir(!fore  to  a  lower  pi'ice  than 
they  conunand  to-day  in  the  protected 
market  of  Canada.  The  economical  (jues- 
tions  involved  in  reciprocity  or  annexation 
are  mtich  more  complicated  and  fai'-reach- 
ing  than  at  first  a))[)ears.  Canada  has 
refused  to  follow  the  lead  of  her  mother- 
countiy  as  a  Free-Trader.  Shouhl  slie 
ally  herself  with  the  United  States  politi- 
cally, she  would  have  only  one-twelfth  inter- 
est influence  in  (h^termining  her  own  future 
fiscal  policy,  and  must  obey  the  will  of  lier 
doniinantsisterStateSjWhethertheybeinthe 
direction  of  Free  Trade  or  Protection,  an<l 
it  pr()l)ably  will  not  be  towards  the;  latter. 

Passing  from  mining  and  metallui'gical 
to  agricultural  interests,  it  is    undeniable 


74 


Canadia?i  Independence. 


'•eiiri: 


'!'i; 


that  tlie  iiearcHt  nuirket  to  most  sections  of 
Cuiiiid.'i  is  the  United  States,  {ind  tliat  tlie 
prices  are  higlier  in  New  York  tlian  in 
Montreal,  Imt  the  farmer  does  not  always 
get  his  fair  shai'e  of  that  higher  [)rice. 
Cereals  are  produced  in  excess  of  consump- 
tion by  both  countries.  Oidy  one  of  the 
cereals  raised  in  Canada  is  largely  pur- 
chased and  used  in  the  States,  and  that  is 
barley.  The  McKinley  Bill  injured  Canada 
l>y  ini[>osing  a  heavier  duty  on  that  grain. 
This  imj)osition  was  not  generally  popular, 
and  in  any  revision  of  the  tariif  tlu^  duty 
will  probably  be  reducecL 

The  folhjwing  figures,  giving  the  United 
States  and  Canadian  agi-icultural  staples  to 
Great  Britain  are  more  conclusive  than  a 
volume  of  arguments.  The  United  States 
supplied  England  in  1800  with  wheat  of 
the  value  of  $3o,5()8,762  ;  Canada  supplied 
her  with  only  $2,250,568.  Cleaily  the 
United  States  w(>ul<l  therefore  not  l)e  a 
good  customei  for  Canadian  wheat.  The 
United  States  sent  to  England  in  1890 
$19,885,815  worth  of  beef;  Canada  sent 
her  only   $367,770    worth.     The     United 


1 


Probable  Ejjcct  of  Atmcxation.        75 

States  slii|)|)e(l  ^,*5;"),.')0;"),784  wortli  of 
Loi'iied  c.'ittle  ;  Caiiaclti  slii[)])t'(l  only  5j^2()4,- 
640.  TliiiH  the  New  \'oik  inaikct  does 
not  stand  in  need  of  (  anadian  beef,  and 
would  pay  no  nioi'e  for  it  than  the  export 
vahie,  no  matter  \vliat  the  rtitail  pi'iee  of 
beef  may  be  to  tlie  New  York  lions(!kee[)er. 

The  sliijunent  ma(h)  of  bacon  and  lianis 
to  Great  I>ritain  in  IHUO  })y  tlie  United 
States  was  of  tlie  value  of  Ji5.'Uv'»27,221  ; 
Canada su[)[)lied  )5."),742,2r)8.  \\\  these  three 
articles  of  largest  agricultural  production 
the  United  States  and  Canada  pi'oduced 
largely  in  excess  of  their  own  consum[)tion, 
and  neither  is,  therefore,  a  profitable  market 
for  the  products  of  the  (jther.  Tlie  foreign 
market,  in  which  both  compete,  would  con- 
sume neither  more  nor  less,  nor  pay  a 
highei'  price  for  the  sup[)ly  from  tlie  North 
American  Continent,  whether  it  be  [)oliti- 
cally  under  one  or  two  governments. 

What  Canada  can  do  is  well  ex(;mplified 
in  her  cheese  industry.  In  189(1  she 
shipped  to  England  5^.9,808,107  worth, 
equal  to  $1.92  per  liead  of  the  population, 
whereas  the  United  States  shipped   only 


i  i 


76 


Canadian  hidcpcndcnce. 


$10,1 !(),.'' I'"'  wortli,  equal  to  only  H',  cents 
per  lie.'id  of  liei*  [)opulatioii.  One  would 
naturally  expect  that  the  ])Utter  shipment 
would  he  in  the  same  [iroportion,  but  Canada 
shipped  only  one  fil'tli  as  much  butter, 
namely  Ji>2i)r),774  worth,  as  was  shipped 
l)y  tlie  United  States,  whose;  shipments 
amounted  to  $l,5()r),701.  Wliy  should 
England  import  over  $20,000,000  wortli 
of  butter  from  Denmark,  and  only  $.'>00,000 
worth  from  Canada?  One  reason  is  that 
Canada's  ])utter  is  so  slovenly  packed  and 
so  unreliable  in  (piality,  that  it  coidd  no- 
where connnand  high  [)rices.  Throughout 
the  West  Indies,  South  America  and  South 
Africa,  there  is  an  almost  unlimited  market 
for  butter,  ])acked  in  tin  cans  at  a  fa})ul()U*s 
price ;  Init  it  must  l^e  of  the  finest  cpiality. 
That  Initter  Canada  should,  but  does  not, 
supply. 

London  is  as  accessilde  a  market  for 
Canadian  eggs  as  is  New  York,  yet  Eng- 
land X>i^y^  France  $6,000,000  armually  for 
eggs,  and  her  own  colonies  offer  her  only 
$50,000,  or  not  1  per  cent,  of  wliat  she 
buys  from  Fi'ance.     The  wider  channel  is 


Probable  Effect  of  A^incxation.         "j*] 

nowadays  no  greater  an  ()l)stacl('  to  coiii- 
merce  than  tlie  narrow  one.  AVHiat  the 
Canadian  farniei'H  want  is  not  a  niai'ket, 
but  energy,  skill,  and  industry  with  which 
to  compete  in  the  world's  niai'ket  ^^  ith  their 
moi'e  2)ushiiig  neighbors  or  nioi-e  thrifty 
rivals.  Annexation  might  I'esult  in  an 
infusion  of  energy.  It  might  lead  to  a 
transfer  of  the  land  from  the  lethargic  to 
the  more  industrious.  Probably  it  would 
leave  rnattei's  precisely  where  they  are,  for 
New  England  has  been  abandoned  by  her 
farmer  class  in  the  mad  rush  for  the  "West, 
and  deserted  homesteads  by  the  hundred 
are  waiting  to  be  reoccu2)ied,  which  are 
nearer  the  huge  city  markets  of  the  coast 
than  any  Canadian  fai'ms. 

The  fishermen  of  the  Maritime  Provinces 
would  profit  by  reciprocity  or  annexation, 
but  they  do  not  make  the  best  of  the 
market  within  their  own  reach.  Lonir 
after  the  Intercolonial  railroad  was 
opened,  the  Lower  Canadian  market  Avas 
supplied  with  frozen  fish,  not  by  Nova 
Scotia  over  that  road,  Imt  by  the  State  of 
Maine  over  the  Grand  Ti-nnk. 


ill' 


78 


Canadian  Indcpcndmcc. 


Aniu'XJition  would  [)rc)]);ibly  improve  tlie 
fiiKiiicijil  status  of  tin;  territory  i'(![)i'esente(l 
l)y  C/iuKida,  ])ut  it  would  ini[)rov(;  the  fi- 
naiicijil  condition  of  the  (Canadians  them- 
selves, only  if  they  yielded  to  the  ini[)ulses 
Avliieh  would  I'each  them  I'l'om  across  the 
line.  These,  if  they  did  not  push  thenwm, 
would  j)ush  them  011  f.  Hut  is  ther(;  not 
inherent  activity  enough  in  Canada  to 
render  such  external  impulses  unnecessar}', 
and  cannot  one  section  react  on  another  as 
effectually  as  it  is  thought  American  go- 
aheadativeness  would  overcome  the  inertia 
of  sluOTshness  which  characterizes  certain 
communities  in  the  Dominion?  Cannot 
the  Scotch  of  Ontario  infuse  into  the 
Scotch  of  Nova  Scotia  some  of  those  (piali- 
ties  which  have  made  Ontario  the  only 
])rosperous  and  contented  [)rovince  in  the 
Dominion,  as  wealthy  and  progressive  ns 
any  similarly  situated  area  in  the  United 
States  ? 

It  is  doubtful,  therefore,  whether  Canada 
would  gain  by  annexation  financially  more 
than  her  own  people  can  win  by  their  own 
will  and  wits,  if  they  exert  them.      The 


Probahlc  Effect  of  yhincxalion.         79 

iiiai'kct  of  the  woi'ld  is  the  urciia  in  \vlii(;li 
]K)tli  (•(•iiiimiiiititvs  must  compete*  for  tlie 
sale  of  tlie  same  articles  vvliicli  ])otli  now 
produce  in  exx-ess,  and  of  wliicli  (Janada's 
resources  aic;  vast  euougli  to  make  lier 
2)rosperous,  if  lier  people  only  make  good 
use  of  tliem. 

Tn  addition  to  a  better  market  for  the 
fruit  of  his  toil,  which  tempts  the  farmer 
to  try,  as  a  nmiedy,  a  (ihange  of  dynasty, 
better  wages  are  2)romised  the;  iaborin^'- 
man.  It  is  natui-al  that  the  wage  (piestion 
sliould  influence  the  opinion  of  the  bulk  of 
the  people.  Were  it  certain  that  a  political 
change,  involving  none  of  the  degradation 
of  conquest,  would  double  a  man's  income, 
there  is  very  little  doubt  how  his  vote 
would  be  cast  on  any  political  issue  involv- 
ing that  consequence.  The  argument  is 
freely  used  that  annexation  or  intimate 
fiscal  union  with  the  United  States  will  at 
once  raise  the  standai'd  of  wages  in  Canada 
to  that  of  the  United  States.  15ut  what  is 
the  United  States  standai'd  ?  There  is  in 
fact  none.  Wages  there,  as  elsewhere,  are 
determined  by  the  (piantity  of  the  supply 


«^i5 


' 


Annexation  Viewed  from  Both  Sides,     99 

except  ice,  which  Canada  can  ship  in 
greater  abundance  and  of  superior  (piality 
to  any  made  south  of  its  line,  Canada  wouhl 
simply  swell  the  bulk  of  the  same  articles 
produced  in  excess  by  the  Republic.  Such 
being  the  case,  would  it  not  be  wiser  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States  to  leave  Canada 
to  settle  her  own  political  and  religious  ac- 
counts, rather  than  to  assume  them  and 
thus  add  other  sectional  issues  and  local 
interests  to  the  many  which  already  em- 
barrass legislation  in  this  country  ? 

The  homogeneity  of  the  French  Canadian 
Catholic  party  will  not  be  destroyed  by 
annexation.  Insignificant  as  the  French 
population  of  Louisiana  and  the  lower  Mis- 
sissippi was  three  quarters  of  a  century  has 
not  sufficed  to  absorb  it  into  the  body 
politic.  The  French  market-woman  of  New 
Orleans  still  dresses  as  a  Frenchwoman, 
sj^eaks  French,  and  thinks  French,  as  un- 
equivocally as  her  sister  who  drives  her  lit- 
tle cart  filled  with  vecjetables  and  flowers 
from  the  Beauport  flats  into  the  Quebec 
market  on  a  Saturday  morning. 

Add  one  and  a  half  millions  of  French  to 


TOO  Canadian  Independence. 

the  same  niiml)er  already  in  the  States, 
and  bring  these  three  millions  iuto  antago- 
nism with  the  other  sixty-three  millions 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  three 
millions  would  become  an  even  more  con- 
crete unit  than  they  are  to-day.  It  would 
organize  and  stand  unflinchingly  on  the 
defensive  to  preserve  its  religious,  social, 
and  judicial  institutions.  Its  solid  vote 
would  at  once  become  an  object  of  bargain 
and  sale  in  the  American  political  market. 
The  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the 
United  States,  already  divided  into  Liberal 
and  Conservative  wings,  feels  the  impossi- 
bility of  resisting  the  impulse  of  American 
ideas,  especially  on  the  subject  of  education 
and  common  schools,  and  the  liberal  prel- 
ates, having  enlisted  the  Papal  Delegate 
and  the  Pope  on  their  side,  have  advocated 
and  in  places  carried  into  practice  a  nonde- 
script combination  of  secular  and  ecclesi- 
astical education,  which  must  be  an 
abomination  to  Cardinal  Taschereau  and 
the  whole  ultramontane  Church  of  Canada. 
There  is  as  wide  a  gap  between  the  practical 
Catholicism  of  Cardinal  Gibbons  and  that 


^ 


Annexation  Vieived  from  Both  Sides.     loi 

of  Cardinal  TascLereau  as  between  an  ex- 
treme radical  and  an  extieme  consei'vative. 
The  radical  and  tlie  conservative  in  politics 
agree  on  the  fundamental  principles  of 
representative  government ;  but  differ  not 
only  as  to  their  scope  but  also  as  to  the 
method  of  applying  them.  The  two 
Cardinals  are  ortli(jdox  Catholics,  so  far  as 
orthodoxy  consists  in  assenting  to  certain 
theoretical  theological  dogmas,  but  the 
Baltimore  churcliman  is  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  the  nineteenth  century,  while  the 
Quebec  churchman  i.s  the  lineal  descendant 
of  Bishop  Laval,  and  the  spii'itual  inheritor 
of  the  traditions  of  the  Middle  As^es.  The 
American  Cardinal  believes  the  Church 
can  only  lead  the  age  by  keeping  in  touch 
with  it ;  the  Canadian  Cardinal  believes 
the  age  is  rotten  to  the  core,  and  the  Church 
must  raise  it — not  lead  it.  The  American 
prelate  knows  that  it  is  impossible  to  arrest 
the  progress  of  secular  education  in  his  great 
flock ;  the  Canadian  believes  the  temporal 
and  eternal  salvation  of  every  human  soul 
is  best  secui'ed  by  ignorance  of  the  world, 
its  evil  ways,  and  pernicious  profane  liter- 


I 


I  'W^T- 


1  I 
1  I  ■ 

'I^H  ' 

|: 

1 02  Canadimi  Independence. 

ature.  The  one  professes  to  see  in  the 
social  and  political  impulses  of  the  age^  and 
especially  in  this  country,  forces  elevating 
the  race  to  a  higher  standard  of  true  liberty ; 
the  other  can  see  in  them  only  the  motives 
of  irreligious  license.  The  one  approves 
of  even  secret  societies  whose  objects  are 
philanthropical,  or  are  organized  to  give 
eff'Bct  to  labor  combinations.  The  other 
anathematizes  all  Avho  take  an  oath  which 
imposes  secrecy  between  the  individual  and 
his  confessor.  Both  are  Catholics,  both 
may  be  orthodox,  but  the  influence  on  the 
political  opinions  of  the  millions  of  subject 
souls  which  is  exerted  by  the  American 
Cardinal-Archbishop  is  widely  different 
from  that  which  the  Canadian  Cardinal- 
Archbishop  would  exert,  if  they  changed 
Sees.  Nor  is  the  wide  diver2:ence  of  views 
and  teaching  a  matter  of  merely  individual 
variation.  Each  prelate  but  reflects  the 
prevalent  temper  juid  policy  of  the  lai'ge 
section  of  the  Church  over  which  he  pi'e- 
sides.  Other  subjects  in  this  country  may 
overshadow  in  political  importance,  the 
claims  of  the  Church  to  dictate  to  its  ad- 


Annexation  Viezved  froin  Both  Sides,     103 

herents,  not  only  what  they  are  to  believe, 
but  what  they  are  to  do ;  but  few  subjects 
can  in  reality  be  of  more  vital  moment. 
Therefore,  if  there  are  degrees  of  intoler- 
ance within  the  Chui'ch,  it  is  the  part  of 
every  good  citizen  to  strengthen  its  liberal 
"wing  by  resisting  the  accession  to  the  ultra- 
montane party  of  such  an  ov^erwhelming 
force,  as  would  be  the  addition  in  bulk  of 
French  Canadian  Catholicism.  Roman 
Catholic  liberals  should  be  even  more 
anxious  than  Pi'otestants,  to  prevent  so 
heavy  a  mass  of  unyielding  intolei'ance 
being  dropped  into  the  scale,  already  loaded 
with  sufficient  home  bigotry.  The  Roman 
Catholic  Church  is  the  most  magnificently 
organized  institution  on  earth.  AVith  un- 
bending rigidity  of  dogma,  it  has  at  times 
exhibited  flexibility  in  accommodating  itself 
to  special  social  and  political  conditions. 
It  would  not  be  the  power  it  is  to-day  had 
it  not  done  so.  Were  its  incalculably  great 
forces  directed  towards  the  same  object 
which  every  true  lover  of  his  country  has 
at  heart,  no  one  should  seriously  object  if 
the  methods  employed  are  not  altogether 


lil 


104  Canadian  Independence. 

in  harmony  witli  his  own,  provided  the  end 
to  be  attained  i."  tlie  same.  Although  from 
the  very  nature  of  its  claim  and  pretentions 
the  Church  is  illiberal,  there  is  a  certain 
section  of  its  clergy  in  this  country  which 
aims  at  bringing  it  into  closer  harmony 
with  modern  ideas  and  aspirations.  The 
efforts  of  that  section  should  be  strens^th- 
ened.  They  would  be  crushed  under 
the  dead  weight  of  Canadian  Catholi- 
cism. 

On  the  other  hand,  looking  at  the  ques- 
tion from  a  Canadian  point  of  view,  the 
dense  population  of  sections  of  the  United 
States,  the  prodigious  development  of  cor- 
porative industrial  enterprises,  and  the 
dangerous  growth  of  individual  wealth, 
have  in  the  United  States  produced  an 
acute  phase  of  the  labor  problem  from 
which  Canada  is  practically  free,  and  in 
which  Canada,  if  wise,  will  hesitate  to 
embroil  herself. 

The  problems  of  life,  industrial  and 
social,  are  much  more  complicated  south 
than  north  of  the  line.  The  physical 
advantages  of  the  United  States  have  beeu 


Annexation  Viewed  from  Both  Sides.      105 


the  chief  cause  of  its  inordinately  rapid 
growth  in  prosperity.  As  a  consequence 
the  rapid  accumulation  of  wealth  by  cor- 
2)orations  and  individuals  is  exciting  not 
only  an  acute  phase  of  the  labor  question, 
but  is  raising  social  barriers  between  the 
rich  and  the  less  rich  ;  is  cutting  up  society 
into  cli(|ues  and  classes,  whose  distinguish- 
ing badge  is  the  possession  of  so  many 
millions  more  or  less,  and  has  already  cre- 
ated an  aristocracy  of  wealth  \vhich  has 
unwritten  laws,  habits,  and  modes  of  speech 
of  its  own,  as  distinct  as  those  which  sep- 
arate the  nobility  from  the  commonalty  in 
the  old  world.  This  evil  is  the  inevitable 
result  of  the  accunuilation  of  wealth,  and 
will  bring  with  it  as  inevitably  its  own 
retribution.  The  Canadian  rich  man,  like 
the  American  rich  man,  wants  to  get  out  of 
his  money  all  that  money  can  give,  not  only 
of  luxury  but  class  distinction.  Fortunately 
for  Canada  and  the  Canadians,  it  and  they 
must  grow  rich  more  slowly,  and  some  of 
the  evils  which  accompany  rapid  inflation 
may  be  corrected  as  they  arise,  and  before 
they  expand  to  such  dangerous  proportions 


i 

li 


io6  Canadian  Independence. 

as  tliey  have  already  assumed  in  the  Great 
Republic. 

Poverty,  a  severe  climate,  land  which 
can  only  be  cleared  and  cultivated  by 
labor,  and  mineral  wealth  which  nmst  be 
looked  for  and  then  won  slc\vly  by  hard 
toil,  are  not  unmixed  evils,  and  should 
genei'ate  a  race  of  hardy  fibre,  which  may 
be  happier  if  not  richer  than  their  neigh- 
bors born  in  a  more  hospitable  clime. 

If  Canada,  as  a  country,  is  really  not  to 
gain  much  if  anything,  industrially,  by 
annexation,  why  should  she  submit  to  the 
shock  of  the  operation  ^vhich  such  a  radical 
political  change  undoubtedly  would  pro- 
duce? What  she  and  the  United  States 
would  gain  by  annexation,  can  be  secured 
by  reciprocal  trade  relations  which,  if  not 
found  to  be  advantageous,  can  be  modified 
with  much  less  friction  than  uncoui>:enial 
political  ties  can  be  severed.  This,  how- 
ever, Canada  should  recollect,  that  siie  is  a 
body  politic  of  5,000,000  inliabitants,  side 
by  side  with  63,000,000,  and  that  if  she  is 
to  remain  at  peace  and  harmony  with  her 
neighbor  she  must,  as  far  as  is  consistent 


Annexatio7i  Viewed  from  Both  Sides.     107 

with  self-respect  and  independence,  shape 
her  policy  in  conformity  with  her  neigh- 
bor's, and  strive  to  avoid  needless  causes  of 
irritation.  In  the  fishery  controversy,  in 
the  canal  controversy,  and  in  the  railroad 
controversy  she  has  displayed  a  spirit  of 
bumptiousness  in  her  acts  and  utterances 
which,  however  well  fitted  to  draw  down 
party  applause  on  party  leaders,  is  not  so 
well  fitted  to  propitiate  the  good  will  of 
the  63,000,000  people. 

In  the  great  family  of  nations,  as  in  the 
narrow  circle  of  our  home,  we  should 
"  bear  and  forbear."  In  obedience  to  this 
rule  arbitration  is  taking  the  place  of  war 
in  the  settlement  of  national  disputes ;  and 
if  Imperial  Federation,  and  later  a  con- 
federation of  all  the  Anglo-Saxon  com- 
munities, is  ever  effected,  it  will  be  only 
because  the  separate  members  waive  sup- 
posed rights  in  deference  to  the  general 
will  and  weal.  Such  a  confederation  may 
be  to-day  but  a  dream.  It  depends  largely 
on  Canada  in  her  relations  with  the  United 
States,  whether  it  shall  ever  become  a 
reality. 


I 


{ 

^ 

1 08  Canadian  Independence. 

It  is  possible  for  Canada  to  remain  inde- 
pendent, and  yet  prove  to  her  neighbor 
that  civility  is  not  servility,  and  that  inde- 
pendent units  of  the  race  may  be  more 
helpful  to  one  another,  and  more  stimula- 
ting to  healthy  political  and  commercial 
rivalry  than  if  organically  one.  This  fact 
once  fully  recognized,  the  practice  as  well 
as  the  principle  of  international  aid  and 
rivalry  would  expand  and  spread  till  it 
embraced  all  the  English-speaking  peoples 
of  both  hemispheres,  and  they  would  be- 
come a  power  on  the  earth  irresistible, 
through  moral  strength  more  than  even 
by  numbers. 

To  achieve  this  it  would  not  be  neces- 
sary, as  Mr.  Carnegie  conceives,  that  there 
should  be  uniformity  of  political  institu- 
tions. There  exists  a  unity  of  design  in 
the  constitutions  of  all  the  Anglo-Saxon 
communities,  but  a  wide  diversity  of  form. 
As  in  the  animal  and  vescetable  kincidoms 
we  admire  diversity  in  unity,  and  i-ecog- 
nize  the  advantages  and  beauty  which 
accrue  from  the  prolific  variations  from 
original  types,  and  as  in  society  life  would 


i^.S 


Annexation  Viewed  from  Both  Sides.     1 09 

be  unendurably  monotonous,  and  progress 
in  all  directions  slow,  if  human  character 
did  not  combine  infinite  individuality  with 
substantial  uniformity,  so  in  such  a  con- 
federation of  congenial  but  distinct  States 
there  might  exist  wide  divergence  of  insti- 
tutions, if  only  the  same  spirit  and  guiding 
principle  animated  all. 


mm 


INDEX. 


II 


pros- 


American  colonies,  relation  to  King  and  Parliament,  S 

American  colonies,  relation  to  the  mother  country,  7 

American  colonies,  trade  restrictions,  21 

Annexation  and  naturalization,  36 

Annexation  or  independence,  the  immediate  alternative. 

Annexation,  effect  on  mining,  69 

Annexation,   probable  influence  on  Canadian   material 

perity,  66 
Annexation  should  be  decided  on  by  consideration  of  common 

good,  43 
Annexation  would  impose  on  Canada  the  fiscal  policy  of  the 

United  States,  73 
Annexation   would    increase   sectional    issues   in    the    United 

States,  99 
Annexation  would  not  transfer  established  industries  from  their 

present  centres,  66 
Aimexation  would  raise  the  provincial  debts,  66 
Annexation  would  strengthen  English  sympathy  in  the  United 

States,  43 
Australia,  climate  attracts  immigrants,  51 
Australia,  debt  a  balance  wheel,  3 
Australia,  freedom  from  external  complications,  3 
Australia,  rapid  growth  of  population,  48 
Australia,  tendency  to  communism,  50 


Beef  exports  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  74 

Behring  Sea  negotiations,  14 

Butter  exports  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  76 

Canada's  attachment  to  the  mother  country,  g,  39 
Canada's  climate  repels  immigrants,  51 
Canada's  copper  mines  worked  by  foreigners,  72 
Canada  dependent  for  defence  on  Great  Britain,  5 


III 


r:  "T 


I  12 


Index. 


\\         < 


Canada's  exports  of  agricultural  products  compared  with  those 

of  tile  United  States,  74 
Canada's  free  lands  less  attractive  than  those  oi  the   United 

States,  57 
Canada's  i)liysical  disabilities,  63 
Canada's  production  of  iron  and  steel,  70 
Canada  should  compete  in  the  markets  of  the  world,  79 
Canada's  slow  growth  in  population   compared   with   that   of 

some  otiier  countries,  47 
Canadian  annexation  or  independence  the  alternative,  il,  34 
Canatiian  conservatism  opposed  to  commercial  union,  8 
Canadian  lumber  should  be  manufactured  in  Canada  for  foreign 

markets,  69 
Canadian  ])olitical  relations,  change  inevitable  with  growth,  i 
Canadian  rebellion  of  1S37,  g 

Cheese  exports  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  75 
Climate  determines  the  flow  of  immigration  to  sections  of  the 

United  States,  51 
Climate  of  Dakota  is  checking  immigration,  58 
Climate  of  Maine,  its  effect  on  immigration,  51 
Commercial  friction  between  Canada  and  the  United  States  a 

source  iif  danger,  4 
Competition  ultimately  defeats  protection,  21 
Constitution   of   Canada  compared   with   that  of  the   United 

States,  84 
Control  of  her  foreign  relations  necessary  to  Canada,  13 

Fishing  industry  of  the  Maritime  Provinces  would  benefit  by 

commercial  union,  77 
Free-trade  policy  of  Great  Britain,  21 
French-Canadians  a  political  unit,  100 
French  in  Louisiana,  99 

Gibbons,  Cardinal,  Catholic  lii)eralism  compared  with  Cardinal 
Taschereau's  ultramontanism,  mo 

Home  rule  in  England,  89 

Home  rule  under  States'  government  in  the  L'nited  States,  90 

House  of  Lords,  85 


Immigration,  change  in  character  of  that  to  the  United  States, 

62 
Immigration  into  the  United  States  since  the  devolution,  40 
Imperial  federation,  advantage  to  Canada,  33 
Imjierial  federation,  its  constitution  must  differ  from  that  of 

the  United  States,  15 


Index. 


113 


Imperial  federation  must  rest  on  racial  sympathies,  ig 

Imperial  federation  only  possible  among  independent  states, 
12,  18,  20 

Independence  of  British  colonies  will  be  effected  by  constitu- 
tional methods,  13 

India  may  evolve  a  special  form  of  representative  government, 

94 
Interdependence  of  the  branches  of  the  English  race,  18 
Iron  imports  into  Canada,  71 
Iron  mining  and  manufacturing  in  Canada,  70 

Manufacturing  in  Canada  limited  by  its  small  population,  63 

Maritime  Provinces  resented  coercion,  12 

Mineral  exploration  necessarily  slow  in  Canada,  53 

Mining  attracts  immigrants,  53 

Mining  would  be  stimulated  by  annexation,  69 

"  National  Policy  "  in  Canada,  why  it  has  been  disappointing, 

56 
Naturalization  not  always  sought  by  Englishmen,  Why?  34 
Naval  parade  in  New   York  while  Behring  Sea  Commission 

was  sitting,  42 
Nova  Scotian   coal  mining  will  be  benefited  by  commercial 

freedom.  69 
Nova  Scotian  iron  resources,  70 
Nova  Scotian  Scotch  and  the  Scotch  of  Ontario,  78 

Political  forbearance  essential  to  international  harmony,  107 

Population,  Australian  colonies,  48 

Population,  Canada's  slow  growth  in,  46 

Population  of  prairie  States  declining,  58 

Population  of  the  United  States  at  time  of  Revolution,  40 

Population  of  the  United  States,  decennial  growth,  49 

Pork  exports  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  75 

Protection  and  high  wages,  55 

Protection  in  the  United  States,  22 

Reciprocity  as  devised  by  Mr,  Blaine  to  protect  United  States 

protection,  25 
Reciprocity  between  the  United  States  and  Canada,  26,  32 
Reciprocity,  treaties  of,  by  European  powers,  26 
Reciprocity,  will  it  confer  prosperity  on  Canada  ?  56 
Religious  antagonism  in  Canada,  97 
Representative  government,  indifference  of  English  colonists 

to  any  special  system,  93 
Representative  government,  no  system  yet  perfect,  95 


.1^ 


114 


Index. 


Representative  government,  will  be  perfected  by  the  commu- 
nities of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  working  in  different  direc- 
tions, g6 

Roman  Catholicism  in  the  United  States  compared  with  Roman 
Catholicism  in  Canada,  lOO 

Sectionalism  and  its  growth  in  the  United  States,  98 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  86 
South  Africa,  future  of,  4 
South  African  Confederation,  92 

Trade  relations  can  be  more  easily  modified  than  constitutional 

alliances,  106 
Trusts  organized  to  bridle  competition,  28 

United  Empire  loyalist  spirit  still  strong  in  Canada,  38 
United  States,  attachment  to  England,  43 
United  States,  decennial  growth  in  population,  51 
United  vStates,  England's  commercial  rival,  30 
United  States,  population  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  40 
United  States,  universal  use  of  English  language  in  the,  and 
its  effects,  41 

Wages  and  annexation,  79 

Wages  in  Canada  itself  would  probably  not  be  affected  by 

annexation,  79 
Wages,  no  United  States  standard  of,  79 
Wealth,  its  rapid  growth  and  its  effects  on  social  L.e  in  the 

United  States,  105 
Wheat  exports  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  74 

Zollverein,  a  measure  of   commercial  self-defence   by  Great 

Britain,  30 
Zollverein  proposed  by  Lord  Salisbury,  21 


r 


■f^" 


w 


QUESTIONS   OF   THE   DAY. 


62 — American  Farms:  Their  Condition  and  Future.  By  J.  R.  Elliott. 
Octavo   .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         ,         .         .      I  25 

63 — Want  and  Wealth.  A  Discussion  of  Certain  Economic  Dangers  of 
tiie  Day.  An  Essay.  By  Edward  J.  Shriver,  Secretary  N.  Y. 
Metal  Exchange.     Octavo,  paper    ...'...         25 

64 — The  Question  of  Ships.  Comprising  The  Decay  of  Our  Ocean 
Mercantile  Marine  ;  Its  Cause  and  its  Cure.  By  David  A.  Wells  ; 
and  Shipping  Subsidies  and  Bounties.     By  John  Codman.       25 

65 — A  Tariff  Primer.  The  Effects  of  Protection  upon  the  Farmer  and 
Laborer.     By  Hon.  roRTKK»SHERMAN,  M.A.     Paper     .         .         25 

66 — The  Death  Penalty.  A  Consideration  of  the  Objections  to  Capital 
Punishment  ;  with  a  Chapter  on  War.     By  Andrew  J.  Palm,     i  25 

67 — The  Question  of  Copyright.     Edited  by  G.  H.  Putnam       .     i  50 

68 — Parties  and  Patronage.  By  Lyon  G.  Tyler,  President  William 
and  Mary  College  .         . i  00 

69— Money,   Silver  and   Finance.     By  J.  H.  Cowperthwait.     i  00 

70 — The  Question  of  Silver.     By  Louis  R.  Ehrich     ...        75 

71 — Who  Pays  Your  Taxes?  By  David  A.  Wells.  Thomas  G. 
Sherman,  and  other-.     Edited  by  Bolton  Hall  .        .        .     i  25 

72 — The  Farmer's  Tariff  Manual.     By  D.  Strange   .         .         .     i  25 

73 — The  Economy  of  High  Wages.  By  J.  Schoenhof,  author  of 
"  The  Industrial  Situation,"  etc.,  etc.     Octavo,  cloth     .         .     i  50 

74— The  Silver  Situation  in  the  United  States.  By  Prof.  F.  W. 
Taussig.     Octavo 75 

75 — A  Brief  History  of  Panics,  and  their  Periodical  Occurrence  in 
the  United  States.  By  Clement  Juglar.  Translated  by  De 
CouRCEY  W.  Thom.     Octavo        .         .        .         .         .         .     i  25 

76 — Industrial  Arbitration  and  Conciliation.  By  Josephine  Shaw 
Lowell.     Paper,  40c.  ;  cloth        ,        .        .        .        .        ,        75 

77 — Primary  Elections.  A  Study  of  Methods  for  Improving  the  Basis  of 
Party  Organization.     By  DANIEL  S.  Remsen  .        .         .         75 

78— Canadian   Independence,   Annexation  and    British   Im- 
perial  Federation.     By  Jamks  Douglas    ....        75 

79— Joint-Metallism.    By  Anson  Phelps  Stokes  ;  cloth    .        .        75 


fb 


QUESTIONS    OF    THE    DAY. 


AUTHOR   INDEX  TO  THE 
"QUESTIONS  OF  THE  DAY"  SERITS. 


Alexander,  E.  P.,  No.  36 
Allen,  J.  H.,  No.  53 
Atkinson,  E.,  No.  40 
Bagehot,  W.,  No.  28 
Baker,  C.  W.,  No.  59 
Bldr,  L.  II.,  No.  35 
Bonham,  J.  M.,   No    61 
Bourne,  E.  G.,  No.  24 
Bovvker,  R.  R.,  No.  10 
Bruce,  P.  A.,  No.  57 
Cleveland,   G.,  No.  48 
Codman,  J.,  No,  64 
Cowperthwait,  J.  H.,  No.  69 
Dabney,  W.  D.,  No.  60 
Donnell,  E.  J.,  Nos.  16,  56 
Dos  Passos,  J.  R.,  No.  38 
Douglas,  J.,  No.  7S. 
Dugdale,  R.  L.,  No.   14 
Ehriclv  L.  R.,  No.  70 
.  Elliott,  J.  R.,  No.  62 
Ford,  W.  C,  Nos.  5,  6 
Foulke,  W.  D.,  No.  43 
Giffen,  R.,  No.  20 
Hall,  B.,  No.  71 
Hitchcock,  H.,  No.  37 


Jones,  W.  H.,  No.  39 

Juglar,  C,  No.  75 

Lawton,  G.  W.,  No.  25 

Lowell,  J.  S.,  Nos.  13,  76 

Lunt,  E.  C.,  No.  44 

Moore,  J.  S.,  No.  50 

Norman,  II.,  No.  42 

Palm,  A.  J.,  No.  66 

Philpott,  II.  J.,  No.  52 

Putnam,  G.  H.,  No.  67 

Remsen,  D.  S.,  No.  77 

Roosevelt,  T.,  No.  49 

Schoenhof,  J.,  Nos.  9,  30,  73 

Sherman,  Hon.  P.,  No.  65 

Shriver,  E.  J.,  No.  63 

Smith.  R.  H.,  No.  26 

Stokes,  A.  P.,  No.  79 

Storey,  M.,  No.  58 

Strange,  D.,  No.  72 

Taussig,  F.  W.,  Nos.  47,  74 

"Tax-Payer,"  No.  55 

Tyler.  L.  G.,  No.  68 

Wells,  I).  A.,  Nos.  3,   54,  64,  71 

Winn,  H  ,  No.  46 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  Publishers. 


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